


Justice

by Boku86



Category: 24 (TV)
Genre: Action, Angst, Drama, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Prison, Revenge, Teamwork, Torture, Trust Issues, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 38,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28428996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boku86/pseuds/Boku86
Summary: A year after season 7, Tony Almeida has to deal with the consequences of his acts, when a new threat makes Jack Bauer cross his path again.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Water

The room was dark, ominous, with no windows. The only beam of light came from a small grid over a metal door. It was a prison, but not a usual prison. A guard was standing by the door looking outside as if he was waiting for someone. On the other corner there was a chair where a prisoner was tied up with his hands behind his back. He looked tired and weak as if he hadn’t slept or eaten for days. He didn’t have any evident wound on his body a part from a bruise on his left cheek, but it was clear that he wasn’t all right at all: he looked disoriented and, even if he didn’t realize it, some of his muscles were shaking.  
Tony Almeida couldn’t explain to himself how the hell he got there. Until four days ago he had been in prison, a regular prison, with windows, beds and lunches, then something had happened. He had been told he would have been moved to another facility for further interrogation but then, instead of being escorted to the usual armor van, he had been woken up in the middle of the night and pushed on a chopper without a chance of having his questions answered. The last thing he remembered was the sting of a needle planted in his arm and then black until he had opened his eyes in this room.  
“I must have been drugged, no other explanation”, he thought. “Or maybe I’m not even here and this is just a bad dream.”  
No, even if the pain at his head was excruciating and his mind couldn’t think clearly because of the lack of sleep and food, the dream option had to be excluded. If this was a dream, he should have been fallen asleep first and no way he would’ve felt so bad while sleeping. No, he was really there and his aching head and his sore throat were proof of it.  
Yeah, the sore throat. If Tony had to choose what was the thing that was bothering him the most in that moment, it would definitely be his harsh throat. Even if they had kept him up for days without giving him anything to eat, they did actually give him a little water. It had been some time on one of the first days, but for Tony it felt like an age ago. His mouth and lips were so dry that it felt like they were on fire. He needed water. He desperately needed it.  
“There’s nothing you can do about it right now, focus on something else”, he tried to order himself.  
The first thought coming into his mind was made by a series of several different questions that he hasn’t be able to answer so far.  
“Why am I here, who the hell this people are and what the fuck do they want from me?”  
Watching them closely for days, he had come up with the thought that they must had been in military, at least for a while. They seemed very well trained, especially in handling weapons and their way of talking was the typical military slang. On second thought, they must had not been in military for just a while, they did have to be some kind of agents or soldiers, otherwise how could they had taken him from a federal prison so easily? If it wasn’t for his confused mind, Tony would have sworn he had even seen a familiar sign on the chopper that had flown him in that hell of a room.  
“No, wait. I’m missing something. If they really were agents, they would never treat a prisoner this inhuman way. But so, who the hell are they?”  
Tony felt like his head was ready to blow, he just couldn’t think straight.  
He stopped for a moment and tried to collect his thoughts. The sore throat was still there, harder than ever.  
“Forget about this people and focus on the real problem: find a way to get the hell outta here.”  
Tony took a look at the room. There was no way out besides the heavy metal door, plus there was the guard. He had to take him out first. But he was tied up. And even more important, he was strengthless. At that moment he understood, they wanted to lead him to exhaustion to have him defenseless and then use him for whatever their aim was.  
“Yeah, but what would that be?”  
While thinking all of this, Tony’s attention was suddenly caught by something else. The guard had sat on a table next to the door and had started drinking from a bottle he had in a bag. No, getting out of there wasn’t the first priority. Priority one was surviving and surviving was water.  
Without thinking twice, Tony tried to reach out to him and in a low voice he said:  
“Hey.”  
The man ignored him. Tony tried a little louder.  
“Hey, I’m talking to you.”  
The man turned around and glared at him.  
“Please, give me some water”, Tony continued. The man stood still, ignoring him again.  
Tony then tried the sympathetic card:  
“I haven’t slept or eaten in days, all I ask you is just a little of your water…Please, I really need it.”  
The man kept on looking at him, now visibly uncomfortable.  
“I’ve been ordered not to talk to you nor to give you anything”, he said.  
“Oh, come on”, insisted Tony. “No one will ever know about this. It’ll stay between you and me”.  
The guard lowered his eyes, clearly conflicted about it. On one side there was the pity for the prisoner, on the other the fear of his boss.  
“I…I don’t know, I…”  
“Please, I’m begging you”, interrupted Tony.  
The guard stared at him for another second, then let pity had the best over fear and nodded at Tony. “Ok.”  
Tony’s eyes flashed with hope as the man took the bottle and came closer to him.  
In that moment the door of the room opened and another man got in. Seeing that his colleague was not sitting in his place next to the door, he asked surprised:  
“What the hell are you doing?”  
Caught off guard, the first man immediately came back to the table, ending Tony’s hopes abruptly.  
“I just…He asked me some water and I was gonna give it to him. He’s gonna die if we go on this way.”  
“Oh, well…so…if the prisoner wants water”, replied the other in a mocking tone, “water he’ll have.”  
Both Tony and the first guard stared at him, not sure what he meant. Unfortunately for Tony, his plans became clear few seconds later while, with the bottle, he took also a towel from the bag.  
“Take him to the ground”, he said to the first man. Tony looked at them, now more concerned.  
“But... “  
“Do it!”  
The first guard, hesitating, approached Tony’s chair and pushed it to the ground. Tony accused the beat, trying to prepare himself to what he knew it would be the next part. A few moments later the second guard kneed close to Tony, keeping the towel with both hands right on his face.  
Looking at the other man, he broodingly said “And now give him the water he wanted.”  
The man glared at him reluctantly for a while. This was really going over the edge. They were men of justice not brutal torturers, or at least not just-for-fun torturers.  
“Come on!”  
Suddenly another thought came to his mind. The prisoner lying defenseless on the ground was responsible for the death of over 20 FBI agents and for having tried to spread a pathogen in D.C. subway.  
“Hell, you bastard, you’ve deserved it”, he thought to himself as to find some sort of justification to follow the order the other guard was giving to him. Then, he took the bottle and started pouring it over the towel in front of Tony’s face.  
Water flew down fast. The towel blocked just enough of it to avoid suffocation, but not enough to consent the person behind it to breath. The feeling received is the same as drowning. Tony gasped for air as the water pouring from the bottle seemed to never end. Damn, if he wanted water so bad, but in his stomach, not his lungs.  
Finally, the bottle was empty. The second guard removed the towel from his face and with the help of the other put the chair back on its legs. Tony breathed heavily and coughed repeatedly, trying to lower his heartbeat back to normal and, at the same time, to gain more drops as he could from his wet lips.  
The second guard took his chin in his hand, forcing Tony to look at him.  
“Next time think twice before bothering one of my men, understood?”, he said with a grin on his face.  
Tony stared at him angrily, still breathing hardly. Then, the man released his face and started walking to the door. Still out of breath, Tony raised his voice at him:  
“What the hell do you want from me?”  
The man stopped, turned around and with a smug look on his face he said:  
“Justice.”  
Tony frowned. “Is this justice?”, he asked.  
“Was it what you did last year?”, replied the other man with confidence.  
Tony glared at him without saying anything.  
“Exactly.”  
Then, the man turned around aiming at the door.  
“Carl wants to see everybody now”, he said to the other guard.  
The other man nodded and then they both left the room, closing the heavy metal door behind their back. Tony watched the door closing as he kept trying to collect himself.


	2. Five senses

For the first time in the last four and half days his eyes were finally closed and he could feel the peaceful and regenerating sensation of sleep. Unfortunately, that moment lasted just a few seconds as his senses were slowly coming back.  
The first one was olfaction. An intense and disturbing smell under his nose swept away that pleasant feeling abruptly. Suddenly his throat didn’t feel as harsh and dry as before, but it didn’t take more than a split second to have taste solving the mystery and worsening everything. It wasn’t water what he had in his mouth, it was blood.  
Next sense to come back was hearing. An indistinct background noise seemed to get louder and clearer as time was passing by. It was a voice and it was telling him to wake up. Even if he wouldn’t have wanted to, there was no choice but to listen to it, also because the smell under his nose was becoming stronger.  
Tony slowly opened his eyes as they were two heavy boulders to lift and here it came sight. At first everything was confused and out of focus, but after beating his eyelids a few times, things started to be delineated. In front of him there was a man whom Tony recognized as one of his captors and who was breaking some salt pills under his nose to make him regain consciousness. By instinct, Tony turned his head away from them.  
“Welcome back”, said the other man with a grin as he put away the salts and got on his feet.  
Tony watched him walking toward the table while his aching head was trying to remember what had happened. The answer this time came from his belly, through an intense and agonizing pain. It was then that he remembered.  
After the little water incident of some hours before, both the guards had left, leaving him alone in the room. At that point, Tony had two things he could do: finally getting some rest or trying to escape. Even if the first sounded the most comfortable in the immediate present, the second was definitely the better choice in the long run and so second it had been.  
Taking advantage of the empty room, he pushed his chair near the table and started to lose the knot at his wrists using one of its corners. Once free, he walked to the door just to find what it was already obvious: it was locked from the outside and there was no way for him to be able to open it without any tool. He had to wait for someone to open it for him and then sneak out.  
After having studied for a while the corridor outside through the door lock, he saw what he was waiting for, coming straight toward him. The guard that earlier had been about to give him water was returning to the room and, luckily, he was alone.  
Tony returned steadily to his chair, acting unconscious. When the man opened the door, Tony waited for him to come closer and then, without thinking twice, used the surprise factor to knock him out with his now free hands that he was hiding behind his back. Tony was surprised too by the strength he still had after all. Adrenaline was playing well to him.  
Checking the guard’s pockets, he thought he was even luckier than he expected: besides a set of keys, the man was also wearing a holster with a gun. Tony checked the chamber and then put it in his pants while reaching for the door. It took just two attempts to guess the right key and open it. Freedom was closer.  
He walked stealthy through all the corridor, stopping at the end with his back in front of the wall. Looking over his shoulder, he saw it was clear. It was time to go again.  
The corridors of the building weren’t pretty long but they were empty and with very few doors. Tony thought that if someone had suddenly appeared on the other side, he would’ve had no place to hide, basically, he would’ve been a sitting duck. To solve the problem there would’ve been just his stolen gun. Yeah, the gun. It didn’t take long for Tony to realize that the pistol he had been so happy to have found wasn’t such a big deal. Without a silencer, even a single shot would’ve burst throughout the facility and, in Tony’s eyes, that would’ve meant only a thing: starting a firefight one against…damn, he didn’t event know how many they were. No, he wouldn’t have shot first or, at least, not until it was absolutely necessary. The problem remained unsolved.  
Under normal conditions, he would’ve kept on analyzing every single possibility, but with his aching head and unbearable sore throat he could barely stay focus on where he was going.  
“If that happens, I’ll think about it”, he had thought.  
“First big mistake”, Tony thought rewatching all of this his head.  
The big mistake had been indeed evident few minutes later when suddenly one of the doors of the corridor he was walking along opened and two men got out. In a split second, Tony had to find a solution to the problem he had refused to solve before. All that his brain could think about was run.  
“Second big mistake”, he realized now in his mind. “Never count on running when you can barely stay on your feet.”  
The two men noticed a noise coming behind their backs and turned around just to see a man running away. Reaching immediately for their guns, they began to chase him through the corridor and then decided to split. He was a rat in the cage, no need to worry about it, they would eventually find him.  
Tony ran in the opposite direction checking all the doors he found on his way to see if at least one was open and he could hide inside the relative room. His breath was so damn short and adrenaline wasn’t just enough now. His body was not responding as he wanted and he didn’t know how long he could’ve kept on running.  
Finally, an open door. Without thinking twice, Tony pushed the doorknob, entered the room and closed the door back behind him. His heart was pounding so high, but air still barely arrived in his lungs. Plus, to get things worse, everything around him was slowly becoming gray.  
“Damn, not now”, he tried to order to his body. Fortunately, his body listened to him and, after a few moments leaning against the wall and trying to collect his breath, his sight started to slowly come back.  
It was in that exact moment that his messed-up mind had a creepy realization: he had just run into the room without checking if there was actually anyone in it.  
“Third big, enormous mistake”, Tony considered at the present time. “How could I’ve been so damn stupid.”  
Definitely, the pain he had been in had played a role in it, but those were the damn basis.  
A click was heard coming from his right side. Tony’s hand immediately came down his right flank, looking for the cold metal safety of the gun.  
“Don’t even think about it”, someone said from the hidden part of the room. “Drop it now!”  
With his hand still on the gun, Tony glanced at him, starting to slowly turn around just to see a man with his weapon drawn at him. Few seconds later, the door behind him opened and the men he was running away from came in. Tony could easily feel their guns aimed at him too.  
“A’right”, he said tossing his weapon on the ground and slowly putting his hands up.  
What happened at that point wasn’t hard to imagine. They captured him again, put him back in his cell and beat the crap out of him just to make sure he wouldn’t try that again. After a long half an hour or so, they had finally got away, leaving him breathless on the chair. It was then that his body probably decided that the pain had been enough and made him black out.  
Taking a look around the room at the present time, Tony tried to estimate how long he had been out. A dim light was still coming from the narrow grid over the door, but it was artificial so it couldn’t help beating the time. Actually, nothing in that room could, that was the purpose of it: to scramble his biological clock and leave him in total disorientation. Tony thought that it was indeed working. At that moment, he had no idea if it was still day or already night, he was really starting to lose it. The only thing that could make him feel the passing of time was his growing thirst which was becoming harder and harder to endure.  
Looking at the guard sitting next to the door, he wondered if things could get any worse. His escape attempt had miserably failed and the more time passed, the less he would’ve had the strengths to try another one. Oh, yes, they could. A sudden ominous feeling came into his head. This time could really be it.  
In some sort of self-preservation attempt, Tony’s mind went steadily back to the only thing that had kept alive in these last years: the thought of Michelle. Closing his eyes, he could still see her, beautiful, in front of him and, in the same way, he could still hear her voice, softly, whispering to him or feel her perfume as she slowly put her lips over his cheek in that last kiss they had.  
Then the blast, the windows smashing, the run to the car and the fire surrounding both of them. Tony could still feel his skin burning as it did 5 years ago on that damn morning that took her away from him. He shouldn’t have let her go alone to the car, he should’ve been the one starting that damn engine while she was waiting safely in the house, basically, it shouldn’t have gone that way.  
No, he still had to fight to stay alive, he had a promise he had made to himself to keep: to kill that son of a bitch Alan Wilson who was responsible for everything that had happened that damn day and finally have some justice. Until then he wouldn’t give up, no matter what.  
A sudden bang snapped him back to reality. Still confused if what he heard was real or was just a creation of his messed-up mind, Tony looked around to find some kind of confirmation in the guard’s behavior. He was talking frantically at the radio as if there was some big problem. Yeah, this is happening for real.  
“Rattle Snake, do you copy? What the hell was that?”, the man asked to the radio, completely freaking out. No answer on the other side.  
“Rattle Snake, do you copy?”, he insisted. Again, no answer.  
The guard glanced at Tony who was too trying to understand what was going on, then, without waiting any longer, he cocked his gun and reached the door.  
The bursts coming from the outside were getting louder and closer, so that was possible to clearly understand what they were: gunshots. The man immediately got out, closing the door of the cell behind his back, leaving Tony only imaging what was happening outside.  
The firefight continued for several other minutes, then it came an irreal silence. Tony, still uncertain of who caused all that mess, couldn’t decide if this was a good or bad sign.  
A beat and a little explosion forced the door of his cell to open. Smoke spread through the room and only when it cleared up, Tony could see a man standing at the door with his gun drawn and waiting to come in. Immediately he recognized his face. It was a very familiar face.  
Until more or less a year ago, seeing that face in similar circumstances, would’ve meant only one thing: safety. Now, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Who would be sure after having tried to kill that man, strapping a bomb on him? It didn’t matter if he was already dying at the time. It didn’t matter if it was for a right cause. What he did to him was so damn cold and even colder was the way he’d been played him and betrayed him. Thinking about it again, Tony knew that he’d never wanted to hurt him that way, but he’d really had no other choice. It was his only chance to finally get to Wilson and he wouldn’t have let it slip, at any costs.  
Staring at the man now, Tony considered if maybe he wasn’t even here to finish what he had started a year ago, when, after having found out his play, he’d beaten the crap out of him so badly and, eventually, had taken him under arrest. If that was the case, Tony said to himself that he wouldn’t even blink. After what he’d done to that guy, maybe he deserved it.


	3. Detached

Standing at the door, Jack Bauer poked his head left and right with his gun drawn, scanning the room from side to side looking for a possible and well-hidden hostile presence.  
Everything had gone smoothly up to that moment: all the tangos were down or into custody and the rest of the team was sweeping the rest of the facility, but still there was no reason to relax. Their mission to break in that underground base and extract the prisoner had not been authorized and if they’d got caught in there at the arrival of the back up team, consequences would’ve been severe.  
Seeing no other than the prisoner in the room, Jack put his gun back in the holster and reached for the radio.  
“I found him. Stop the sweep and meet me at the north gate in 5 minutes”, he said.  
“Copy that”, was the scratchy response of the radio.  
Jack put the radio away and glared at Tony for a couple of long seconds. At that moment, more than ever, he wouldn’t have wanted to be the one who had led the mission. At that moment, more than ever, he wouldn’t have wanted to be there, in front of the man that, the last time they’d seen each other, had used him and backstabbed him with no mercy.  
It had been a year ago, but Jack still seethed with anger. Trying to kill him and, more important to Jack, trying to kill thousands of innocent people spreading a pathogen in Washington subway were not things easily forgettable or forgivable. Jack couldn’t still understand how the hell he could have gotten so far. They’d been friends for years, he trusted him and he knew him as a man of honor and moral integrity, who had devoted his life to protect people, how could he have just ignored all his past and believes and go on with that absurd plan?  
At least, Jack could understand the reason. He knew how much Michelle meant to him and how much her unfair death had devasted him, but that couldn’t be a justification. He had lost his wife too in a similar unfair way, but not because of that he’d been able to consider expendable the lives of innocent people just to get closer to his revenge.  
Seeing Tony again now, Jack decided that, however, this was not the time nor the place for reasonings, fights or regrets. He had orders to execute and the best way he could follow them was to let his feelings aside and be as detached and distant as he could. That would’ve been his strategy.  
Jack took a step into the room, walked to the chair where Tony was sat and headed straightly to his handcuffed hands, kneeling before them. No words were spoken, neither the obvious “You OK?” question. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the commonly positive answer would’ve been a lie, so it wasn’t worthful to waste time or distance over that.  
Tony, on the other side, adopted the same strategy, feeling extremely uncomfortable for the whole situation and decided to just lower his eyes as Jack passed by.  
Eventually, silence had to be broken. Seeing his hands handcuffed to the chair, Jack had no chance than to do it. In a cold tone he said:  
“Do you know where the keys are?”  
Tony took a second to think, rewatching everything in his head and fighting hard to remember which of the men had cuffed him. His memory was so damn slow and sloppy now.  
Without waiting for his brain to find an answer, his lips started to speak as in an unconscious way.  
“Please Jack, give me some water”, he said under his breath.  
Not sure of what he had just heard and pretty surprised from the unusual demand, Jack moved ahead to be able to see his face and then, in a whisper, asked:  
“What?”  
Tony slowly raised his eyes at him, unsure if really continue explaining his request or don’t push this already uncomfortable situation even further. Though his brain said the latter, his body said not to lose even the smallest chance and so, avoiding Jack’s look again, he explained:  
“Since I’ve been here, they haven’t let me sleep or eat anything yet…It’s been several days, I’m going nuts. So, if you have at least some water with you…”, Tony stopped and glanced at him.  
Jack stared at him blankly for a few seconds, realizing that the detached approach he’d been planned it was simply not possible anymore. He had been too many times in similar hellacious situations with heartless captors not to be moved. It didn’t matter how much he was still angry at Tony, it is in human nature to have sympathy and it’s more likely to feel it for a person that, besides everything, he had considered his friend for more than 13 years.  
“Sorry, I don’t have any”, he said truly meaning it.  
Tony simply tilted his head and sighed.  
Jack continued: “Tony, listen, we’re gonna bring you back to the FBI HQ and, once we got there, you’re gonna have all the medical attention you need, but right now I need you to try to remember who cuffed you.”  
Tony collected his thoughts for a while and then said, still with a low voice:  
“White, middle aged, dark hair, blue shirt…he got out just a few moments before you entered the room.”  
“All right”, Jack replied as he stood up. “I’ll be back in a min. Hold on.”  
Jack walked across the room when his eyes fell on the empty bottle on the floor, previously used by the two guards in the waterboarding torture. Without saying anything, he looked at Tony that, noticing the whole scene, glanced at him with the same thought in his head.  
Thinking about it again, Jack said:  
“We gotta be outta here before their back up arrives or we may be screwed. We don’t have much time left, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to hang around to find a place to fill it.”  
“A’right”, replied Tony a little disappointed. “Go.”  
Jack stared at him for a few seconds, then, looking back at the bottle, he swore under his breath and decided to pick it up anyway before heading to the door.  
“Thanks”, whispered Tony.  
Jack stopped and turned around.  
“I don’t assure you anything”, he said.  
Tony nodded and then Jack got out of the room.  
Jack started running through the empty corridor that, just some hours earlier, Tony tried to walk along in vain, but, despite him, Jack knew exactly where to go since he’d studied the blueprints of the facility before breaking in, plus he thought he remembered where he’d shot the guard with the blue shirt. The only problem, at most, would be to find a sink to fill the bottle, but he was quite sure to remember a bathroom on the schematics not so far from there too.  
Walking through the base, he arrived at the spot where he thought the man he was looking for would have been. He was still there, lying on the floor with a bullet in his head. Jack kneed over him and searched for the keys. Then, not completely satisfied, he decided to take his gun too.  
Back on his feet, he walked away, headed straight to what he believed being his next place to go. As he got there, his radio buzzed.  
“Jack, what’s your status?”, it said while Jack reached the sink and, with the free hand, started to fill the bottle.  
“We’ll be out in a few minutes, is there any problem?”  
“Yes, you’ve got company”, said FBI agent Renee Walker as looking outside the van.  
“What? They weren’t supposed to be here for at least another 10 minutes.”  
“Unfortunately, that’s not what I’m seeing right now. Two SUVs on approaching from the east side. I can’t tell how many men inside yet. Do you want us to open fire?”  
Jack closed the bottle and started running back to Tony’s cell.  
“No – he replied – We can’t afford to be stuck here in a firefight, I’ll handle it from inside, possibly using stealth. You just stay where you are and cover for us when we come out, understood?”  
“Jack, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. If they find out that you’re still there– “  
“Renee – interrupted Jack, raising his voice while he was still running – you can’t get inside again, it would be a huge risk both for you and the mission, trust me, it’s easier if we just get out and you and your men do what I told you and be ready to leave, all right?”  
Renee thought about it for another second:  
“Yes, copy that”, she said, knowing that Jack was right and she was just worried.  
“Ok. I’m going off comm now. I’ll call you back if needed.”  
Jack put the radio away and, after a few moments, entered Tony’s cell.  
Tony looked at him as he walked in, knowing immediately from his eyes that something was wrong.  
Jack got closer to him without saying anything, then he opened the bottle and made him drink. Tony enjoyed the sip of that murky and maybe even undrinkable water as it was 1964 Dom Perignon.  
“Better?”, asked Jack.  
Tony nodded and then, raising his eyes back at him, added:  
“Thank you so much.”  
Jack looked at him again and simply said:  
“Yeah.”  
Then he put down the bottle and started working on his handcuffed hands. Tony stayed quiet for the whole process, waiting for Jack to be the first one to explain what was going on. The wait didn’t last more than a few moments since Jack started speaking almost instantly.  
“Their back up has arrived sooner than we thought. There’s a van waiting for us at the north gate, but down here we have to handle it by ourselves – Jack finished removing the handcuffs – You ready?”  
Tony nodded as he moved his now free wrists.  
“Yeah”, he replied.  
“Ok – then, picking up something from his pocket, Jack added – You may need this.”  
Jack handed Tony the gun he took from the guard. Tony looked at him for a while, unsure if this was really happening.  
“I assume you won’t try to shoot me this time”, continued Jack with a small grin.  
Tony looked down and took the gun.  
“Listen, Jack – “  
Without letting him finish, Jack intervened:  
“We gotta go.”  
Then, he got on his feet and started walking to the door. Tony did the same, but after taking a step, everything around him became dark and he had to lean on the table.  
Jack noticed it and started thinking that this could have been more problematic than he’d thought.  
“Can you walk?” he asked.  
Tony leaned back and then headed to the door.  
“Yeah, I’m fine”, he said.  
Jack looked at him not sure of it at all, but, since they were running out of time and they had no other chance, acted like he believed it.  
“All right, let’s go.”  
Then they both walked through the door with their guns drawn and left the room.


	4. Like the old times

“Follow my lead” were the first words spoken by Jack Bauer while exiting the room with Tony. In all the years working as an anti-terrorism special agent at CTU, he had always been a natural leader, eager to do whatever he thought it was right even if it meant to go against whoever was in charge at the time, Tony included. Tony followed him through the long hallway.  
Arrived at the end of the corridor, Jack gave the signal to stop in order to check if someone was arriving through the perpendicular way where they needed to go. He then took a small mirror from his pocket and used it to look without the risk of being exposed. A man was indeed spotted towards the end, checking one of the dead bodies they left before on their way in. Soon more men would have spread throughout the facility looking for them. They needed to take him out without warning the others.  
Jack put back the mirror and quickly moved to the opposite side of the corridor, in front of Tony. A couple of glances and gestures were all he had to do to get Tony understand his plan. They’d been working as team for so long that no words were required to get into each other’s mind anymore, even after what’d happened the year before. For a moment, the memory of that tragic day almost seemed to be disappeared.  
The man in the hallway heard a little noise coming from the end of it and immediately went to check what it was with his gun drawn. Before he had the chance to turn left into Tony’s direction, a hand from behind had already covered his mouth, while a knife was quietly slitting his throat from side to side.  
Jack let the body fall gently on the floor and then resumed his run with Tony. They had to make another turn and then proceed towards the staircase. Suddenly, two men appeared and began shooting at them. Jack and Tony’s response was immediate and the men fell lifeless on the ground with bullets in their heads. Silence had been broken now and they had to expect more resistance on their way out.  
Jack ran through the stairs and stopped halfway up to shoot another hostile coming towards them, while Tony was proceeding to the ground floor. Then, he started climbing up again, having Tony covering him from the top of the stairs and killing another man behind him.  
Other shots were heard while they began running again.  
“We need to take cover – Jack screamed as the shots came closer to them – Here!”  
They both hid down behind a short metal cupboard while the shooting continued. Noticing Tony’s expression of pain and heavy breathing, Jack had to make sure he could still go on.  
“We’re almost at the exit point, I need you to hold on. Can you do it?”, asked Jack alarmed.  
“Yeah, I’m fine”, replied mechanically Tony.  
“Ok”, whispered Jack before emptying his whole magazine at the hostiles, killing a couple more of them.  
“I’m empty”, he said, looking at his gun, after having taking cover again. Then, his eyes fell on the gun of one of the men lying on the floor not so far from them.  
“Cover me!”, Jack yelled while heading for the gun.  
“A’right”, Tony nodded before getting up and starting shooting towards the men.  
With a loaded gun again, Jack took care of the remaining men and then they both reached a door, facing the outside.  
“It’s locked, Jack”, Tony stated with disappointment after trying to open it.  
“I got it”, Jack responded while extracting some plastic explosive from his pocket. Then, he started placing it on the door as Tony remained with his gun drawn at the entrance of the room.  
After a few moments, Jack’s work was done.  
“All right, step back!”, he shouted as they both moved away from the door. Then, a blast freed their way to the outside of the base. Seeing more hostiles coming, Jack stayed still and began shooting at them.  
“I cover you – he screamed at Tony – Go!”  
Tony glanced at him for a second, then decided to run towards the van that was waiting for them just outside that entrance. The rear door of the van opened and Tony got on, sitting next to Renee.  
“Where is Jack?”, she asked, worried to not see him arriving.  
Tony stayed quiet, still breathing heavily for the run. Then, they both stared at the entrance of the facility for a few moments that seemed to never pass, waiting for Jack to show up.  
He did eventually get out, reaching the van just in time to avoid being shot. A few more bullets hit the back of the truck as soon as the door was closed.  
“Go, go!”, screamed Renee to the driver in the front. Then, the truck started moving fast towards the exit street.  
Inside the van, both Jack and Tony were still struggling to catch their breath. Noticing some blood on Jack’s arm, she immediately asked:  
“Are you ok?”  
Jack looked down to his sleeve that he must had soaked in blood when taking the gun from one of the hostiles.  
“Yeah, it’s not mine.”, he replied.  
Then Renee turned to Tony, fighting hard not to think about what he had done to her colleagues the last time they had seen each other. Spotting his weapon, she abruptly ordered:  
“Give me the gun”.  
A little confused, Tony surrendered it straightaway, consuming the last bit of energy he still had in his body. Was she really thinking that he would have used it against them just after having freed him from his captors? But then he remembered how he already tried to kill them in the past: maybe it wasn’t so crazy for her not to trust him.  
With Tony’s gun in her hands, Renee’s struggle became more evident as she nervously ran her fingers on the barrel. A while later, her thoughts grew up so loud in her mind that she couldn’t help but to let them flow out.  
“You know what’s funny, Tony? That the same FBI that you bombed last year, has just come here to save your ass.” she said with a little grin on her face. “I wonder what Larry would think about that…”, she added while some tears started filling her eyes.  
In front of her, Jack stared at her, a little concerned.  
“Would he be proud? Would he be ashamed?”, she continued, getting more emotional the more she was talking. “But the truth is…Larry can’t think anything, because you choke him to death, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”  
Screaming the last sentence, she quickly removed the safety from the gun and pointed it right at Tony’s face.  
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! WE NEED HIM ALIVE!”, shouted Jack immediately, raising his gun at her. Tony, on the other hand, remained completely still.  
“He’d been my mentor for 9 years and he was my friend…”, continued Renee, talking to Tony, while crying and ignoring Jack. “He had a ten years old son, who will never see his father again, do you know that?”  
Tony lowered his eyes. Killing Larry wasn’t one of the things he was proud of, but, at the time, he had been the first having figured out his double play and he had been left with no choice but to stop him.  
“Renee, put the gun down, NOW!”, insisted Jack, trying to regain her control.  
“OR WHAT? You’re gonna shoot me, Jack?” she angrily asked, turning towards him.  
“You know I would if I had to.” he responded softly, but with a very serious tone. Then, getting more emotional he begged: “Please, don’t make me do it.”  
Renee stood still, keeping her gun aimed at Tony with one hand and using the other to wipe out some tears from her eyes.  
“Turn around”, she ordered to Tony, still mad.  
“Renee, please. You know this isn’t the right way. Tony may have information that could save hundreds of innocent lives today, I can’t let you do this.”, said Jack, trying to break through to her. “Larry would’ve never wanted it to end up like this and you know it.”  
“I said, turn around”, she persisted, trying to ignore Jack again. “And put your hands behind your back.”  
Tony followed the order again, with no resistance. Once in control of Tony’s hands, Renee slowly put the gun on the empty seat next to her, reached for the handcuffs in her pocket and used them to secure his wrists. Then, with a brooding tone, she added with a low voice, directed to Tony:  
“But don’t think this is over. You’re gonna pay for what you’ve done, spending the rest of your life in a federal prison. Don’t think that just because we saved you today, you can walk free.”  
Tony listened to her with resignation, without saying a word, while Renee turned her eyes away from him and dried her last tears. In front of her, Jack, seeing that the situation was again under control, slowly put his gun back too. Still upset of what he’d just seen, he stared at her, sighing both with anger and relief. This could have really end up badly for all of them.


	5. The deal

Stepping into FBI Headquarters, a couple of agents immediately came towards them to escort the prisoner.  
“Take him to medical and then right to the interrogation room”, order Jack to one of them.  
“No, we don’t have time for that, take him straight to the interrogation room – retorted Renee with confidence – He’ll get what he needs once in there.”  
“Ok”, replied the agent while taking Tony for the arm and leading him to another door. Jack stood still, watching Renee signing a module handled her from the other agent.  
“Renee, can we have a word?”, Jack asked with a hostile tone.  
“All right”, she replied, stepping aside from the other man, who then began to walk away.  
“What the hell is going on with you today?”, Jack said, trying to keep his voice low. Renee immediately started replying a little annoyed:  
“You perfectly know that we have to take advantage of any weakness of prisoners in order to make them more collaborative. Plus, we really don’t have time to take Tony to– “  
“I’m not talking about that – interrupted Jack more upset – I’m talking about what happened before in the van.”  
“Nothing happened in the van – cut off Renee – He’s fine.”  
“Damn it, Renee, you lost control of your emotions! You could’ve killed him!”, he replied furious. Then, after pausing a moment, with a calmer tone, he added: “I could’ve killed you.”  
Renee looked away from him and sighed. She knew she’d screwed up before, but she had to show that she could still keep going without compromising the mission.  
“I know”, she said with a reflective tone. “It won’t happen again.”  
“You bet it won’t, because you’ll get nowhere near to him today. I’ll handle the interrogation.”  
“No, Jack, you won’t”, she stated with sureness. “I’m in charge here and the last time you led his interrogation, you ended up breaking him out of our building, so no, we won’t go down that road again.”  
Jack looked at her with scorn. How could she have brought this up now? She perfectly knew that, at the time, he believed that Tony was undercover or he would’ve never helped him in the first place.  
“You know that it was completely different. Without that, we would’ve never recovered the CIP module and stopped Dubaku in time and thousands of innocent people could have died in those attacks.”  
“You don’t know that – she replied without giving in – Maybe if you hadn’t helped him escape, we would’ve still found a way to stop those attacks and, with Tony still in custody, some of the terrible things that he did wouldn’t have happened.”  
“I can’t believe you’re putting this on me now”, said Jack, giving her a resentful look.  
“I’m not putting in on you, Jack. I know that Tony betrayed you more than anyone, but, still, I can’t let you question him, I have orders on it.”  
“You know that I can make him break faster, I have history with him and I can use it against him”, he tried to make her reasoning.  
“I’m sorry, Jack, but I don’t have time to discuss this with you now. I’ve gotta go.”  
Then, she started walking in the direction of the holding room, leaving Jack both disappointed and concerned about the whole situation.

A few minutes later, everything was ready for the interrogation. Tony was waiting in the holding room, sitting at the table with his hands cuffed behind his back. On the other side of the wall, Renee was staring at him through the mirror, collecting her thoughts. Next to her, a little behind, stood Jack who’d been granted at least the right to assist from outside.  
One of the agents seen before in the lobby, entered the room with a tray with some food and water. Renee glanced at him to followed her in the holding cell and used her keycard to open the door. Before entering the room, she gave a last look at Jack, who was still too focus on Tony to notice it.  
Inside the interrogation room, Renee waited for the agent to put the tray on the table.  
“Thank you”, she told him. “You can go.”  
The agent nodded and then left the room, closing the electronically controlled door behind him.  
Tony looked for a moment at the unreachable tray due to his uncuffed hands. Having led many interrogations himself, he knew perfectly well that they would’ve never given him anything he wanted until they hadn’t got what they needed from him and that leaving that food just before his eyes was just another ploy to make him more vulnerable and collaborative. Pushing that image away from his eyes and mind, he decided to focus on what could still be in his control and started speaking to Renee:  
“So, what’s going on? Who were the people who kept me?”  
“If you don’t mind, I’ll make the questions here”, she shut him up abruptly.  
“A’right”, he said under his breath.  
Renee came closer to him and, taking a picture from a folder she had in her hands, she slowly made it slide towards him.  
“Do you remember this man, Tony?”  
Tony kept his eyes up, avoiding looking at the picture.  
“I said remember because we know for sure that you’d met him before”, she added in order to prevent him to start the conversation with a useless lie. Seeing no reaction, she kept going:  
“His name is Scott Burwell and he’s been one of Emerson’s contacts for many years. We think he helped you a lot as a weapon supplier and tipped you about worth-taking jobs. Maybe he also told you about the CIP Module, I don’t know.”  
Tony glanced briefly at the picture in silence.  
“Anyway, a few days ago he was spot by a security camera at the dock, talking with this other man – saying so, she slid another picture on the table – Gheorge Vasilij, connected to the Russian mob. Vasilij was later found dead in a dump with high levels of uranium 235 in his body and the tests revealed that the radiation poisoning was at its beginning stage, meaning that the contamination must have happened here in the US. We believed that Vasilij sold Burwell some sort of radioactive weapon and that Burwell is now planning to use it in an attack or to sell it to another terrorist group.”  
Renee stopped briefly to see if this caused any reaction in Tony. No, he was still impenetrable.  
“What we want you to do – she continued – is to reestablish your cover in order to contact Burwell and introduce Jack to him as a potential buyer of the weapon. This will allow us to locate it and, possibly, secure it before it can be used to harm people.”  
Tony smirked.  
“I’m done with undercover work”, he stated.  
“You’ll just have to vouch for Jack with Burwell and set up a meeting for him. Then you’ll be done and Jack will handle the rest”, she explained.  
“And what do I get in return?”, he asked slightly more interested.  
“I guess preventing a nuclear attack and potentially saving thousands of lives are not some things that matter for you anymore”, she said with disappointment. Tony stayed quiet, waiting for a better answer.  
“We can spare you the death penalty that otherwise it’ll become final for you next month. Besides having already saved you from the people who kept you captive and tortured you for days.”  
“Not enough”, he said with confidence.  
Renee started to feel a little annoyed.  
“You won’t get the immunity from the President if that is what you’re thinking. You’ve done too much to have it.” Then she came closer to him and, lowing her voice, she added:  
“And, trust me, I will never allow the person who murdered Larry to walk free.”  
Tony felt a little sorry for her. If the President had really decided to give him immunity, she wouldn’t have had much to argue about it.  
“I wanna talk to Jack.”, he said firmly.  
“No, you’re talking with me. You won’t get another chance to manipulate him or convinced him to make you escape”, she replied with the same determination.  
“Then you’ll get nothing from me”, he cut it off. Even if he was still overwhelmed by exhaustion, he couldn’t afford to give up so easily. Then, provocatively, he added: “Are you really going to blow up the opportunity to stop a nuclear attack over your pride?”  
Renee sighed, staring at him. She knew that a potential attack could have happened any minute until that nuclear material hadn’t been recovered and that they would have to try anything to prevent it, especially if it was something so simple like letting Jack talk to him. Without saying a word, she picked up the photos from the table, walked to the door, slid her keycard over the electronic opening mechanism and got out.

On the other side of the room, Jack was watching everything from the mirror.  
“You won, you can go in”, Renee told him, feeling a little disappointed in herself.  
Jack looked at her with sadness. He never meant it to be some kind of competition between them, he just wanted to do what was best at the moment.  
“All right”, he whispered as he started reaching for the door.  
Back on the other side, the door opened again and Jack got in and glared at Tony.  
“You wanted to talk to me – Jack said – I’m here. What do you want to help us?”  
“Not so fast, Jack.”  
“Tony, I warn you. Don’t push my patience.”  
“Who were the men who got me?”  
Jack paused a second unsure if this was just genuine curiosity or an attempt to stalling. He decided that he needed to build a trust in order to get something from him.  
“After Starkwood was dismantled one year ago after the attacks, its private army split up in many independent groups, which became involved in all kinds of businesses, from private security to much less legal stuffs like smuggling or retaliation. The people who got you belonged to one of these groups. We managed to find them through the corrupted guard that they bribed to break you out of prison. We’re still not sure what they tried to accomplish with you. Maybe they planned to use you for some criminal activity or maybe it was just a punitive mission on commission, but we still have no evidence on the instigator. You pissed off a lot of people with your last deeds, you know.”  
Tony took a moment to process the whole story.  
“They never really told me what they wanted from me, except that it was for justice, so, yeah, I can buy the punitive mission”, he said. “What I don’t get is why they didn’t kill me.”  
“Maybe they were killing you”, pointed out Jack. “Just not the usual way.”  
Tony thought about the whole thing one more time. Maybe Jack was right and they just wanted to have the longest and most painful revenge. Not so far from what he wanted for Wilson.  
“Can we move on to Burwell now?”, asked Jack with impatience.  
Tony nodded.  
“Renee already described you the situation. We can easily restore your cover thanks to your breaking out of prison story and the grudge you still have towards the government. Plus, Burwell knows you, so it wouldn’t be unlikely for you to come to him once free”, started explaining Jack. “Of course, if during your time in prison you’d developed any kind of regret for what you’d done, you’d be the one begging us to let you help somehow and do something good in your life again, but I understand that this is not the case and you want something in return.”  
Tony stood quiet, a little annoyed by his attitude, even if he couldn’t blame Jack for thinking that.  
“I’m talking straight to you – Jack continued – Due to the terroristic nature of your acts, it’s unlikely that the President will grant you a full immunity, even if we can try. What we could get for you is an extradition to another country where you’ll be free with the clause of never coming back to the US again. In any case, any help you will give us today, will count on court to shorten your sentence.”  
“I don’t care about my sentence, Jack”, whispered Tony honestly.  
Jack sighed and looked at him with sadness.  
“Then, what do you care about?”, he asked.  
Tony glanced at the security camera which was recording the whole interrogation. Jack turned his head in the same direction for a second.  
“All right”, he said after cursing under his breath. Then, he headed straight to door and got out of the room.  
“Turn off the security camera and cut off the audio from the interrogation room”, he ordered once in the adjacent room.  
“Jack, we can’t let you do something stupid in there”, Renee said concerned.  
“I won’t do anything stupid. We just need to talk off the record”, exclaimed Jack irritated.  
“Jack – “  
“Just do it, ok?”, he insisted.  
Renee sighed with anger, finding it difficult to trust him right now.  
“I hope you know what’re doing”, she said with a bit of resignation. Then, she turned off the camera and shut down the audio from the room.  
“Thank you”, replied Jack, before going back in.

Back on the other side, Jack closed the door and came closer to Tony.  
“Camera is off, we’re alone now. Don’t let me waste another minute and tell me what you want.”  
“You know what I want, Jack. The only thing I’ve ever wanted since Michelle died.”  
“Damn it, Tony, I can’t let you murder Wilson! “, exclaimed Jack quite upset. Then, in a calmer voice, he added:  
“Trust me, we tried to bring him to justice. Renee almost lost her badge after trying to break him the hard way, but everything we had against him wasn’t enough to incriminate him.”  
“WASN’T ENOUGH?? – yelled Tony furious – He was responsible for the murder of my wife and David Palmer, he took part in the organization of terrorist attacks using the sentox gas and the prion virus, HOW COULD THIS NOT BE ENOUGH, JACK?”  
“Unfortunately, we had no solid proof about it, just a couple of confessions made under duress and you know they’re worth nothing in court”, explained Jack in a sad tone.  
“I’ve worked for four years undercover to finally get to him and, believe me, I’m certain he’s behind all of that, I’ve heard it from his own voice more than a time and I’ve met many of the small fishes he used to have his work done, so if you haven’t found enough proof to put him in jail forever is just because the corruption in this government is so deep that powerful people like him have become untouchable – retorted Tony with disappointment – But we can’t give up, Jack. Do you think it’s fair that people like him who destroyed our lives can walk free in their million-dollar mansions while I rot in prison waiting for death penalty?”  
“Of course, it’s not fair. But life isn’t always fair, Tony. Sometimes you just need to accept it.”, said Jack with resignation.  
Tony looked at him, shaking his head. How could he have just become like this? The Jack he knew would have never surrendered before such an injustice. Trying to provoke him, he asked:  
“Just like you accepted it when you murdered Nina Myers, I guess? Oh no, that was personal defense, right?”  
“No, it wasn’t”, confessed Jack with complete honesty, sitting in a chair next to the table. Tony found those words totally unexpected. It was the first time that Jack admitted it in front of him.  
“When I shot her, she was already on the ground, unarmed, and If I had wanted to prevent her from reaching for her gun next to her, I could’ve just hit her in the hand – continued Jack softly – But the truth is, in that moment, I thought about all the harm she had done to Teri and my daughter and how much she could’ve still done to other innocent people and I lost it.”  
“So, if you murdered the woman who killed your wife, why can’t I do the same with Wilson?”  
“Because I was wrong, Tony. I know that right now you think that killing him will bring some justice to Michelle and you’ll feel better after, but you won’t. After I killed Nina, I felt nothing and this whole sense of emptiness that I felt since Teri died just became much deeper because I knew that Teri would’ve never wanted me to revenge her death that way. And Michelle neither.”  
Tony moved his eyes away from him for a moment.  
“I’m way past what Michelle would’ve wanted me to do, Jack – opened up Tony – But if I don’t finish this, everything would be for nothing. I can’t accept that. And I can’t accept that this son of a bitch won’t pay for the harm he had caused. And, knowing how you cared for Palmer and Michelle, I think that, deep down, you can’t accept it too, no matter what you’re saying to yourself.”  
Jack sighed. He sure wanted to make that bastard pay for what he had done to two of his closest friends, but he wished he didn’t have to be that kind of person anymore. Anyway, if he wanted Tony to collaborate, he had to push in that direction.  
“All right, this is what we’re gonna do – started explaining Jack – Officially, we will ask President Taylor to grant you a partial pardon for your crimes in exchange of your full and trustful collaboration to help us stopping the attack. Besides that, we’ll have a deal ourselves. After everything is finished and the nuclear weapon is secured, I’ll help you to get to Wilson and we’ll try again to find something about his group. After that, I will step aside and let you do what you think it’s right.”  
Tony glared at him, not sure he heard the last part well.  
“Are you kidding me?”, he asked.  
“I’ve never been so serious”, Jack answered in a whisper.  
Tony thought about it a second more.  
“You’re gonna get in trouble, Jack.”  
“I will find a way out, don’t worry. What is certain is that, if you decide to go through this till the end, once you have killed him, your pardon will be void and you’ll find yourself here again waiting for another death sentence, but it seems to me that you don’t care about that, right?”  
“No”, replied Tony with indifference.  
“All right – said Jack a little sorry to see him so careless about his life – So, do we have a deal?”  
“Yeah, I’ll do what you ask me to”, confirmed Tony.  
“Ok. Of course, I don’t need to tell you that the second I see something I don’t like and I have even the slightest suspect that you’re playing us again, I swear, I’ll kill you myself.” said Jack, knowing that Tony was well aware of what he could be capable of.  
“The same is for me if I realize that you’re not going to honor your part”, stated Tony with the same confidence.  
“Fine. I’ll go outside telling that we’ve reached an agreement, then I’ll come back and brief you about the details of our cover story.”  
Tony nodded. Jack stood up and started walking towards the door. While passing in front of Tony, he glanced at the food tray and stopped. Turning around the table, he reached Tony’s hands and broke the right free, cuffing the left on the metal handle in the middle of the table. Then, he pushed the tray towards him.  
“Thanks” whispered Tony.  
Jack nodded and then went for the door, while Tony took the bottle in his hand.  
“Jack”  
Jack stopped, without turning around.  
“I know it means nothing now, but… I’m sorry for how I treated you last year. You didn’t deserve it”, admitted Tony.  
Jack sighed and turned towards him.  
“You’re right. It means nothing, just the facts do – said Jack, not able to forgive him yet – But I still appreciate you saying it.”  
Tony made a half-smile.  
“I hope I can trust you this time”, added Jack, whishing he could change his mind again about him.  
“I hope I can trust you too”, replied Tony.  
“Yeah.”  
Then, Jack opened the door and got out.


	6. Leap of faith

The night was slowly coming down on the city and the streetlights were about to be turn on. Staring at the window in his passenger seat, flashes of a world he hadn’t seen for over a year were passing before Tony’s eyes. Until a few hours ago, he would’ve never imagined to be outside again, ready to come back to action and resume all that mix of lies, deception, violence and constant alert that was the undercover work. Thinking about that, Tony felt a little nauseous. He had fought so hard to try to forget all the unspeakable things he had done in the last few years and now he was coming right into it again. Besides that, another thought was crossing his head. This day, started in un undefined time in his sleep deprived mind, could have been the day where he finally would have got his revenge. For now, this would’ve been enough to keep him going.  
On the seat next to him, Jack was driving the car that would’ve led them to Burwell’s safehouse. After their previous conversation in the interrogation room, Tony had been able to contact Burwell and make him set up a meeting to talk to him in person about business. As they were arriving to the place, the tactical team was taking position in a long-range perimeter around the house to be able to intervene if needed. Now it was up to Tony to be able to convince Burwell to see Jack, opening a possible lead to the threat.  
Suddenly Jack’s phone started ringing.  
Jack glanced at the screen and cursed under his breath before picking up.  
“Hi sweetheart” he said with most caring tone he could do at the moment.  
Tony turned briefly to his side by instinct and then came back watching outside the window to give him some privacy.  
“I’m sorry I haven’t called you before but something important came up today and I completely forgot it – continue Jack on the phone – No, I’m fine, don’t worry, I just won’t be able to get there tonight. I have to finish this work, I’m really sorry. Yeah, I know. Listen, I’ve gotta go now, I’ll call you tomorrow, ok? Give Teri a kiss. Bye Kim.”  
Turning again towards Jack, Tony couldn’t help but ask:  
“Teri?”  
Jack looked at him a little surprise about the question.  
“Yeah, Kim named her daughter after her mother – he responded – I guess you didn’t know I’m a granpa now. You would tell?”  
Tony smiled a little.  
“No, not really.”  
“Yeah, me neither”, he replied, smiling back himself.  
“How’s Kim?”, Tony asked with genuine curiosity.  
Hearing that name in Tony’s words, a sudden memory from the past came in Jack’s mind.  
“You know, it’s funny for you to ask – said Jack with a grin – after having sent two thugs after her to force me to help you escape from custody.”  
Tony sighed and then began speaking:  
“Using Kim was the only way to make you cooperate with me at the time. Anyway, they never had the order to hurt her, they just had to show you that they were with her.”  
“Yeah, sure, the fact that they had guns and started a firefight at the airport never include the possibility to hurt her, right?”, reacted Jack, way more upset.  
“Oh, come on, Jack, you perfectly know how these things work! Of course they needed to have guns in case the situation escalated like it did. That doesn’t mean that they actually would have harm her”, explained Tony, more annoyed himself.  
“Yeah, we both know how these things could easily go wrong, that’s why you should’ve never put my daughter in danger in the first place”, closed up Jack.  
Tony just stood there in silence, without any other argument to justify himself.  
“Anyway – resumed Jack with a calmer tone – let’s focus on this now. We can leave personal divergencies for another time.”  
“Yeah”, whispered Tony before turning back to his window.

After a few more turns, Jack pulled over in a residential area.  
“Ok, we’re here. Burwell’s safehouse should be the third on the right”, he stated.  
“Got it.”  
“Do you have any question about our cover story and how you should introduce me?”  
“No, I’m ok.”  
Jack nodded. Then, handling him an earpiece, he added:  
“Take this. We can have two-way comm and we’ll be able to track your position anytime.”  
Tony stood still, not really convinced to take it.  
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Jack.”  
“What are you talking about?”, asked Jack, starting to get irritated again.  
“Look, these people are not stupid, ok? The first thing they’re gonna do once I walk through that door will be to search me for wires and microphones and, if they find that thing in my ear, I’m dead and so it’s the mission.”  
“I can’t let you go inside completely dark, we need to be able to hear what’s going on.”  
“Yeah, I know you don’t trust me, I can’t blame you for that, but, if we’re gonna work together in an undercover operation, you know that you won’t be able to control every move I make. It’s not possible if we want this to look real without jeopardizing the mission”, explained Tony. Then, seeing that Jack was not really convinced, he continued:” I said I would help you with this, so I’m not gonna go in there and blow up the cover or try to escape. You’ve gotta be able to give me some space if we want this to work.”  
“It’s not just that – clarified Jack still upset – We need to hear what’s happening also to be able to send in the tac team if things go wrong.”  
Tony made a little smile. Like they cared.  
“I’ve worked for years undercover with no backup. I can take care of myself, don’t worry – he said with a little mocking tone on the last words – Plus, if they really don’t buy what I tell them, they’re gonna shoot me on the spot and there’s no tac team that would make it in time. You know that.”  
Yeah, Jack knew that. But still let him go in without, at least, a minimum control was a big leap of faith.  
Tony began talking again:  
“Listen, there is something else you don’t know. When I was working with these people, I’ve taught them everything about how we used to run operation at CTU: most common undercover stories, how to detect wires, engagement tactics and positions…everything. I’m not proud of that, but I needed to gain their trust, so I had no other choice but to tell them what I knew. “  
Jack gave him a very disappointed look, shaking his head. Tony continued:  
“So, you have to believe me when I tell you that they won’t go easy on this.”  
Tony paused a moment to study Jack’s reaction: he was still uncertain. Though, he could see that, somehow, he got through because what he told him couldn’t be ignored. It was time for the ultimatum.  
“Anyway – he began again – this is your operation, so it’s your call. What do you want me to do?”  
Jack looked at the earpiece in his hand one last time. The leap of faith was still in front of him, ready to be taken. And there was no turning back from it. Either he decided to trust again the person who had deceived him a year ago or he could go on the safest way, but with a huge risk of compromising the mission before it could even begin.  
“Fine – said Jack putting the earpiece away – We’re doing it your way, but you promise me that you won’t stall and you’ll let me in as soon as possible, ok?”  
“A’ight, I promise.”  
“Ok. In the glove compartment there are a gun and a phone with my number on it”, explained Jack.  
Tony opened it and took the gun checking if it was loaded. It was. Then he took the phone.  
“I’ll be waiting for your call”, added Jack just to make it perfectly clear.  
“Ok.”  
Then, Tony got out of the car and started walking on the curb.  
Jack watched him going, still unsure if he had made the right choice. Picking up the radio he said:  
“Target is going in, everyone stay in position and be ready to move on.”  
“Copy that”, the radio answered back.  
Then he turned the car on and drove away.


	7. Eight zeros

Burwell’s safehouse was a pretty decent place, perfectly concealed among the other houses in the neighborhood. The only thing that might have given away what was really going on inside, was a small camera over the door.  
Tony rung the bell, giving a quick look at the camera. The door opened almost immediately.  
“Almeida”, said the man inside like he had just seen a ghost.  
“Where is Burwell?”, asked Tony abruptly while stepping in.  
Burwell appeared behind the man as soon as he moved away from the door to let Tony in.  
“Hi Scott”, greeted Tony when he saw him.  
“Tony – exclaimed Burwell –Never thought I would see you again.”  
“Life is a constant surprise”, replied Tony.  
Burwell glanced at two of his men.  
“Search him”, he ordered them.  
Tony made a small grin and raised his hands, putting them on his head while one of the men started to search him.  
“I have a gun”, stated Tony just a moment before the man found it and passed it to the other one. Then he lifted Tony’s shirt looking for wires.  
“C’mon, do you really think that I would help again the people who ruined my life in the first place?”, asked Tony a little upset.  
“You never know”, responded the other man, lowering his shirt and starting to look into his ears.  
“He’s clean”, he admitted a moment later, after finishing his job.  
“Can I have my gun back now?”, asked Tony still a little annoyed by the whole process.  
Burwell nodded. Tony took the gun an put it back in his pants.  
“Come on, Tony – Burwell said – take a seat, I think you have a lot to tell us, starting from how you escaped from prison.”  
“Yeah, how about we just start from the reason I’m here, instead? Let’s not waste time in futile prison story and get right to business.”  
“We’ll get there, don’t worry. C’mon, take a seat. Do you want a beer?”, insisted Burwell.  
Tony paused a second and looked at the other men in the room with the feeling that something was off. He needed to be careful.  
“Yeah, sure”, he replied. Then he sat on the couch as Burwell passed him a bottle before sitting himself on an armchair.  
“So – began Burwell – you told me on the phone that you were held in a former Starkwood facility. What I don’t get is how exactly did you managed to escape from a military base, guarded by, probably, tens of men, without any help?”  
“Never said I didn’t get help”, replied Tony with confidence.  
Burwell gave him a confused look.  
“The man who wants to do business with you helped me escape. He needed me to be able to get to you and vouch for him, so this will tell you how much he’s willing to do to close this deal. Trust me, when he smells a good business, he stops before nothing.”  
Burwell was still uncertain.  
“Tell me about him. How do you know him?”  
“His name is Jack Rapp. Emerson and I already did some good businesses with him over the years before you came into the group. He has powerful connections so he’s able to pay a lot of money when he thinks there’s a rewardable opportunity.”  
“Never heard of him.”  
“That’s why he’s good covering his tracks and preserving his clients’ privacy. You don’t want to make this kind of sensitive affairs with someone widely known and already probably under the FBI radar.”  
“Ok, but why do I have to trust this Rapp guy I know nothing about?”, asked Burwell, still waiting for something to convince him.  
“Because I told you so – replied Tony – And because he’s willing to pay an 8 zeros transfer to get something he wants from you.”  
Burwell’s uncertainty turned into surprise.  
“8 zeros?? What does he want from me?”  
“Do you really have so many ongoing businesses worth hundreds of millions? C’mon, you know what I’m talking about.”  
Burwell studied him for a moment, not willing to talk first.  
“You tell me”, he eventually said.  
Tony sighed. Then he started speaking:  
“A’right. Rapp thinks that you came across some nuclear material, probably in a weaponized form.”  
“Nuclear material??”, asked Burwell very surprised.  
“Yeah. Highly enriched uranium”, responded Tony, getting sick of the play.  
“Whoa, that’s some serious stuff. Radiations can be easily detected and the consequences of getting caught with that kind of material are really severe. It’s a huge risk to deal with nuclear weapons, nobody does it.”  
“Yeah, I know. But you do, don’t you?”  
Burwell stood quiet for a while, not sure if he should answer the question.  
“Maybe. Or maybe not”, he replied at last.  
“A’right, look – said Tony standing up – I’m losing my patience here, if you wanna keep playing games and wasting a chance for a life-changing business, maybe I came to the wrong door.”  
“Hey, you seem a little nervous, Tony, relax – mocked Burwell gesturing him to sit back, before continuing – I’m not saying I’m not interested. How could I not be interested in a 8 zeros business?”  
Tony stopped and looked back at him.  
“So, you do have the uranium.”  
“Yes. But there is something more. I already have another buyer.”  
Tony frowned. This could complicate the whole thing.  
“Well, I guess it won’t be bad to find a more rewarding one – he said, trying to open up his way to convince Burwell – I can call Rapp to tell him where you can meet him, then you can look him in the face, choose if you trust him, hear his proposal and decide if you wanna stick to your original buyer or try to get more out of this situation. You have nothing to lose here.”  
Burwell took a moment to think, glanced at one of his man and then nodded at Tony.  
“Ok. Tell him to come here. I will call also the other buyer and then we’ll see who has the better offer.”  
“A’right.”  
A few moments later, in Jack’s car, his phone started ringing.  
“Hello”, he answered, finally relieved to receive that call.  
“Hi Rapp – said Tony on the other side – I’m here with Burwell, he wants to see you. Can you come at 41st, Latham street?”  
“Ok.”  
“When can you be here?”  
“20 minutes.”  
“A’right, he’s waiting for you. You’d better prepare a good offer because there’s another buyer on the plate. I don’t wanna leave with empty hands.”  
“I will – said Jack a little concerned – I’m on my way.”  
Tony ended the call and looked up to Burwell.  
“He’ll be here in 20.”  
“Ok”, said Burwell. Then, raising his bottle at Tony, he added:  
“Welcome back, Tony.”  
Tony raised his beer too and took a sip, hoping he really made it to get his trust back.


	8. Showtime

Driving back to Burwell’s house, Jack’s mind was quickly rethinking about all the information he had up to that moment and how he could have prepared best to what was to come. On one side, it was good that Tony had finally made the call and, somehow, had managed to tip him about the other buyer. Maybe the choice to trust him wasn’t so bad after all, or, at least, that was what he was trying so hard to believe. On the other, the news of the buyer could have drastically affected the result of the mission. If Burwell would have decided for a blind auction, in fact, there was no certainty to make the best offer and get the uranium. Something similar had already happened to Jack many years ago in the attempt of recovering the Cordilla virus: after losing the auction against his long-time nemesis Nina Myers, everything had gone downhill and the virus had made hundreds of deaths after being released at the Chandler Plaza Hotel. Jack knew that he couldn’t afford to let this happen again.  
Inside the house, Burwell and his people had been discussing a little more with Tony about the last year and his past with Rapp, but, for now, the situation seemed under control and there was no apparent reason to think that they wouldn’t buy his story. However, it was still early to relax since the meeting with Jack could have changed everything.  
The bell rung again and the same man who had previously done it went to open the door.  
“This is Jack Rapp”, announced Jack.  
The man stepped aside and let him come in. Jack glanced briefly at Burwell and Tony who were a few steps behind. Before he could say anything, Burwell’s partners were already searching him like they did with Tony before.  
“Clean”, stated the man to Burwell. Then, glancing at Jack’s gun in his own hands he added: “Maybe I’ll keep this for a little longer.”  
Jack decided that he couldn’t help but accept that for now. If things had gone wrong enough to need a gun, he would have found a way to get it back.  
Burwell came closer to him.  
“So here we are, Mr. Rapp – he said, raising his right hand towards him – Tony told me you were eager to meet me.”  
Jack shook his hand.  
“I’m always eager to do a good business.”  
“Who isn’t? – replied Burwell – Come on, let’s chat in private.”  
Burwell started walking towards the next room where he had a small office. Jack followed him straight away, glancing briefly at Tony while he was passing by.  
Arrived in the room, Burwell closed the door behind Jack. Jack could easily notice the gun on his right flank, barely cover by his jacket.  
“So, Tony told me you two did business before when he was working with Emerson”, Burwell started, just after sitting at his desk.  
“Yeah, we closed a couple of deals with David. He was a good client”, responded Jack.  
“You know, I began working with him three years ago, but he never mentioned you.”  
“Emerson worked with a lot of dealers. Maybe he didn’t need to talk to you about your previous competitors.”  
“Yeah, maybe. But, I wonder, if business with you was so good, why did he stop? It’s always risky to find new trustful sources in what we do”, insisted Burwell, a little suspicious.  
“He had to, because I moved to England in the last couple of years.”  
“Oh, I still have some contacts back there. Do you know Mark Holley or Denis Vaughan?”  
“You mean Darren Vaughan?” – specified Jack with confidence – Yeah, I worked with him too.”  
“So you won’t mind if I call him to have some reference on you?”, continued to test him Burwell.  
“No, I don’t. But I doubt that the guards of penitentiary he’s locked up in will let you speak with him at this time at night”, concluded Jack with a little grin.  
Burwell made a little smile too.  
“Have we done with the tricks and can we move to the reason I’m here?”, asked Jack impatient.  
“Yeah, I think we can go on for now. As you know, there’s another person who’s interested in this business, so your offer’s gotta be worthy.”  
“If it wasn’t, I think you wouldn’t even make me come here, am I wrong?”  
Burwell stayed quiet.  
“If I am here – continued Jack – is because you think my offer could be better than the other buyer’s. You can have your people verified it as soon as you want.”  
“I will, don’t worry. Anyway, the other buyer is coming here right now, so we’ll hear to both your final offers and I will decide who has the best. What you need to know is that if you want me to even consider it, the entry ticket is one million in advance. It shouldn’t be a problem if you really have so much money.”  
“It’s not. But, if you don’t mind, I want some confirmation that you have the material too.”  
“The person who wins the auction will have the confirmation before transferring the rest of the money. For now, these are the terms of the deal, take it or leave it”, conclude Burwell leaving no other space to bargain.  
Jack took a second to think. There was really no other chance if they wanted to find the uranium.  
“Ok – he replied – give me the coordinates and I’ll arrange the first transfer.”  
“Good”, stated Burwell with satisfaction while writing something down.  
In that moment the door opened and one of his man got in.  
“Randall is arrived”, he said.  
Burwell nodded and then followed him out.  
Jack stood up and moved close to the door but, before he could get out, his heart stopped for a second seeing one of the persons who just entered the front door.  
“Damn it”, he cursed under his breath, leaning back to the wall inside the room. Immediately he took his phone and composed a number.  
In the living room, Tony looked at his ringing phone a little confused.  
“Yeah”, he answered.  
“Could you come here with discretion?”, asked Jack.  
“A’ight”.  
Then Tony started walking to the adjacent room, while Burwell was greeting with his new guests.  
“What’s going on?”, Tony asked as soon as he arrived in the room where Jack was.  
“We have a problem”, stated Jack.  
“What problem?”  
“The man with the huge scar on his face.”  
Tony glanced back in the other room to have a better look on him. He was still near the door with the others.  
“What about him?”  
“I know him”, confessed Jack more worried.  
Tony sighed.  
“How?”  
“I arrested him back at CTU.”  
“Mhm, I don’t remember him”, said Tony confused.  
“It was before you started working there, it must have been in ’98 or ’99. He probably has finished his sentence now.”  
“Jack, it’s been 20 years, do you think he remembers you?”  
“I interrogated him and broke his jaw to force him to expose his group. Trust me, he remembers me.”  
“Right – said Tony smiling a little – No doubt about it. So, what do we do now? If he recognizes you, your cover is blown.”  
“Yeah, I know – admitted Jack with resignation –That’s why you have to pull a ‘Jason Turner’.”  
“What?? Are you kidding me? We can’t do the Turner thing, we’ve just started this cover, Burwell doesn’t trust us enough yet.”  
“Maybe he doesn’t trust me enough, but he trusts you. He has known you for years, I think it can work with the right evidence.”  
“I don’t know, Jack.”  
“We don’t have any other choice, Tony. I can’t stay closed in here any longer and if I go to the other room, we’re both dead.”  
“But why don’t we just take him out? I can make him go outside with an excuse and get rid of him.”  
“Because there are too few people here, they’re gonna notice he’s missing!”, said Jack getting more upset but still keeping his voice down. Then, in a calmer way, he resumed speaking: “We have to try it. It’s our last chance before calling off the mission and let the backup team come in and take everyone into custody. I’ll contact Renee and I will have her send the information you need on your phone. Once you have it, you can talk to Burwell, ok?”  
Tony sighed again, not completely convinced about it.  
“Yeah”, he finally said.  
“Good – said Jack, a little reassured – Now go back there and if someone asks for me, say I’m in a call with a client and I’ll be there in a few minutes, ok?”  
“A’ight.”  
Then, Tony left the room and Jack took his phone again.


	9. The Glasgow smile

A few minutes passed and everything was set up. After moving to a more secluded room, Jack had managed to contact the FBI giving them all the information they need to generate the false evidence. A few more moments later, everything was already on Tony’s phone, ready to be used. Noticing a message with the links, Tony checked them briefly and then started walking towards the door of the office where Burwell had been talking with Randall since his arrival, waiting for him to come out.  
It didn’t take long for the door to open. Burwell and Randall came out, apparently pretty satisfied by their conversation.  
“Scott, can I talk to you for a minute?”, asked Tony in a whisper.  
Burwell look at him a little alarmed and confused.  
“Sure”, he replied, letting Tony come into the office and then coming back in himself again.  
“Everything ok?”, he asked after having shut the door.  
“Not really”, admitted Tony with a concerned look.  
Immediately Burwell let flow out all the worries he had already perceived a moment before:  
“Is it Rapp? I haven’t seen him in a while, where is he?”  
“He’s having a problem with another client and he had to take the call, but he’s not the one you should worry about”, explained Tony.  
“I don’t get it”, continued Burwell more confused.  
“How well do you know Randall? Have you done business with him before?”, began to test the waters Tony.  
“No, but I did my search on him, he’s ok. Why?”  
“And what about his men, do you know them? Do you know the one with the scar on the face?”  
“No, not really.” Then, starting to get more upset, Burwell added: “Tony cut the crap, can you tell me what the hell it’s going on? What’s the problem with him?”  
“The problem is he’s a fucking rat!”, exclaimed Tony with anger.  
“What?! How do you know that?”  
“I know because I met him years ago when I was at CTU. His name is Jason Turner and he was a cop working at LAPD. Look.”  
Then Tony extracted his phone from his pocket, digited something and showed the screen to Burwell. Burwell scrolled the internet article about a criminal, named Quentin Costa, who had given the “Glasgow smile” scar to a cop who tried to arrest him. The name of the cop was indeed Jason Turner and his picture didn’t leave any other doubt about him.  
“Mhm…ok, but there could be an explanation for this. You too were a federal agent”, continued Burwell still not convinced.  
“Yes, but I’ve come clean to you and you know my story. Ask him about his name and past, if he tells you what I’ve just showed you and how he got to the dark side, you can still believe him, but if he tells you anything else, you know what you have to do.”  
“Ok – said Burwell after a last thought – I will.”  
“Good”, nodded Tony while heading for the door.  
“Tony – stopped him Burwell before he could go out – Thanks for the tip. I knew that your federal agent past would come in handy some time.”  
“Yeah.”

Burwell got back to the sitting room and joined Randall who was talking with two of his men, including the one with the scar.  
“Mike – he said to Randall, who quickly turned to him – You still haven’t introduced your men to me.”  
“I didn’t think you would be interested, but no problem – he replied. Then he started pointing at them, saying apparently insignificant names, until he turned to the man next to him and added: “And he’s Greg Scheckter.”  
Burwell studied him for a few second, trying to get from his eyes any possible sign of deception.  
“That’s a pretty bad scar you have. What happened?”, he asked with nonchalance.  
“It happened many years ago. A fucking agent tortured me for hours to make me break but I said nothing. I got 20 years in returned”, Scheckter explained.  
“Wow, kinda strange for an agent to do something so extreme, uh? He must have been pretty badass”, Burwell inquired with a little laugh.  
“You haven’t seen that man, he was nuts – Scheckter continued, a little pissed off – He would have killed me if other agents didn’t enter the room.”  
“Ok, ok…So, if you had a 20 years sentence, I guess you just got out from prison, right?”  
“Yeah, six months ago. Why?”, replied Scheckter more annoyed.  
“So, there’s nothing else about your past that you think we should know?” insisted Burwell.  
“What? – Scheckter asked with growing confusion – I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“I see.”  
“Is there a problem here?”, interrupted Randall, worried about all the questions.  
“I don’t know. How well do you know him?”, asked Burwell turning to him.  
“Well, I’ve known him from a couple of months. Why?”  
“Because he just told me a big bunch of balls.”  
“What??”, immediately reacted Scheckter, completely shocked.  
“What the hell it’s going on here?”, Randall asked, unable to understand too.  
“I have proof he was a cop at LAPD. And since he didn’t admit it, I guess he still is.”  
“WHAT?? That’s not true, I swear!”, shouted Scheckter, out of himself. Randall looked at him with disgust.  
“But you didn’t know anything, right?”, Burwell asked to Randall with a mocking tone.  
“I swear I had no idea, you gotta believe me Scott.”  
“Yeah, sure – said Burwell, while glancing at his men to come closer.  
“That’s not true, whoever told you so is lying, I swear!”, Scheckter continued to defend himself, fearing Burwell’s reaction.  
“Get rid of them. Both.”, Burwell order to his men, while they were taking Randall and Scheckter who were still trying to let their truth out.  
Before they could point their guns at them, one of the other men of Randall pushed one of them to the ground and started shooting. Instantly a firefight burst out. Hearing the gun shots, Tony got back to the room and began shooting at Randall’s guys too.  
During the shootout, one bullet hit Burwell in the left flank. Immediately, Tony reached him to help, dragging him behind a sofa. Hearing the mess that was happening to the other room, also Jack got there to help, taking one of the guns left on the ground by the dead hostiles.  
After a few minutes, everything was quiet again. Both Randall’s and Burwell’s men were dead, lying on the living room floor. Burwell was still in pain, behind the sofa, with a hand on his wound.  
“We can’t stay here – said Tony to both Jack and Burwell – With a rat in Randall’s men, the police can burst in any minute.”  
“Yeah, we gotta move out”, agreed Jack. Burwell nodded and the three of them got out of the house, headed to Jack’s car. Jack helped Burwell, who was limping, to get to the car and then sit with him in the back seat, while Tony took the driving seat.  
“Where do we go?”, asked Tony to Burwell.  
“Do you remember the safehouse we used when we closed the deal with the German?”, Burwell replied.  
“Yeah.”  
“We can use that for now.”  
“A’ight.”  
Tony started driving. In the back seat, Jack came closer to Burwell.  
“Let me see the wound”, Jack said before looking at it. After a while, he resumed talking:  
“All right, the bullet went through without hitting any vital organ or artery. You’ll be fine if we managed to stop the bleeding.”  
“Ok – agreed Burwell – In the safehouse we have some first aid kit.”  
“Yeah…Listen – resumed Jack – If one of Randall’s men was indeed working with the police, our deal could be compromised really fast. We’ve gotta close it and get away as soon as we can. Where is the uranium?”  
“You said it, if the police know about this, it’s too risky to go on now. We’d better postpone until the waters settle.”  
“No, the more we wait, the more they’ll gather information. We’ve gotta do it now or we may not be able to close it again.”  
“I don’t know –  
“Listen – interrupted Jack more upset – I’m not gonna give up this deal. So, either you’re gonna take me where the material is and we finished it now or, I swear, that I’m gonna make you talk in the worst possible way and I’m gonna get the uranium anyway.”  
Jack began pressing on his wound while Burwell started to pant in pain.  
“Trust me, you don’t wanna mess up with me”, Jack whispered at his ear, in a brooding tone.  
“I don’t know who you really are, Rapp, but you’re really naïve if you think that I’m gonna give up half a billion dollars after some physical threat. I’ve been in the UK special forces.”  
Jack immediately hit him very hard on the wound making him scream.  
“You’re right, you don’t know me. Because if you did, you wouldn’t dare me to prove how much pain you can endure. Whether you’ve been in special forces or not”, threatened him Jack while keeping pressing on the wound. Burwell just looked at him panting harder, trying to suffocate his scream in order to not give it up to him.  
“Jack, what the hell are you doing?! – said Tony glancing in the mirror – Stop it!”  
Jack ignored him and hit Burwell harder, forcing him to scream again.  
“Jack!”, repeated Tony more upset.  
Jack backed off, letting Burwell catch his breath for a while.  
“All right”, Jack whispered.  
Then, he suddenly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Burwell.  
“Right now you have a very important choice to make – Jack said to him, pressing the gun on his temple – You can choose to gain half a billion bringing us where the uranium is or you can choose to have a bullet smashing your skull and going throughout your brain. Choose wisely.”  
Burwell glared at him with confusion and shock.  
“If you kill me, you’ll get nothing”, he stated.  
“Yeah. But you’ll be dead. Who do you think will lose the most?”, replied Jack with confidence.  
Burwell studied him for a few seconds, trying to understand if he was serious. He damn was.  
“Ok. I’ll arrange the deal, but I can’t bring you to the uranium right now.”  
Jack immediately removed the safety and pushed the gun harder on his head.  
“WAIT!”, Burwell shouted by instinct. Then, in a calmer tone, he added:” The reason I can’t bring you there, is because I still don’t know where it is.”  
“YOU SAID YOU HAVE IT!”, yelled Jack with anger.  
“I’LL HAVE IT SOON! – screamed back Burwell – I was going to finish the exchange tonight or tomorrow at most, in time to conclude the deal with Randall. This before you two showed up.”  
“You son of a bitch, you sell something that you still don’t have! WHO IS YOUR CONTACT?”, continued Jack more pissed off.  
“He’s a Russian guy. His name is Misha Golubev, I can call him to see if we can have the material tonight.”  
“Oh, you’ll do better that that. We’re going to him right now”, replied Jack with a grin.  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  
“Why?”  
“Because he lives at the Russian Embassy. He’s the Russian ambassador”, confessed Burwell.  
Jack stared at him in shock for a few moments, then glanced at the mirror seeing in Tony’s eyes the same concerned look.  
“Then you’d better start thinking about how you’re gonna convince him to meet us, because we’re going to the Embassy now”, concluded Jack.  
Then, he exchanged another look with Tony, who prepared to lead them to the new itinerary.


	10. Breaking in

It was almost nine o’clock when the car driven by Tony stopped close to the Embassy entrance. Burwell was still limping for the wound in his flank, but he was still able to make it to the main gate. Tony and Jack followed him a few steps behind.  
Arrived at the gate, the security guards immediately approached them.  
“I am Scott Burwell, I need to see the ambassador with urgency”, Burwell said to introduce himself.  
“Do you have an appointment?”, replied one of the guards.  
“No, I don’t, but if you ask him, he’ll meet me”, claimed Burwell with resilience.  
“It’s a little late, maybe you should come back tomorrow morning”, continued the guard. After having said that, the man noticed, in the shadow, that his interlocutor was indeed wounded. “What happened to you?”, he asked indicating his flank with the head.  
“That’s part of the urgency. I need to see him now. Ask him please”, insisted Burwell letting transpire some sufferance.  
The guard stood by a little confused. Then, glancing at Jack and Tony, he added: “Who are they?”  
“They’re my partners. Look, call Golubev and then we’ll explain everything, ok?”  
The guard looked at the three of them again.  
“Wait here”, he ordered.  
Then he got back to the cabin near the gate. After a while he came back out.  
“Alright, he will see you. You can go to the next security point and then they will escort you to him.”  
“Ok, thanks”, Burwell said while going towards the gate which was opening.  
Arrived at the entrance of the Embassy, two security guards approached them and searched them for guns with a metal detector. They were clean, since they all left the guns in the car, knowing that they would have taken away from them.  
The guard talked to his radio and then call them back.  
“Wait!” – he ordered – The ambassador will only meet Burwell. You two have to wait here.”  
Burwell exchange a quick look with Jack and Tony, who had no choice than to enter a room adjacent to the lobby. Then he started walking towards the stairs with a guard.  
A little annoyed by the waiting, Jack was walking through the room, while Tony sat on a chair and took his head in his hands, feeling all the tiredness of the past few days coming out again.  
“Do you think we can trust Burwell?”, Tony asked him.  
“Right now we don’t have any other choice”, replied Jack.  
Then, taking advantage of the empty room with only a security guard by the door, Jack pull out his phone.  
“Renee, it’s Jack – he said moving to a corner of the room.  
“Jack, what’s going on? Did Burwell believe the fake story about Turner?”, responded the voice on the phone.  
“Yeah, but then things got a little out of control. Burwell’s men are dead and so is the other buyer.”  
“Oh my God, are you ok? Why didn’t you call the backup team?”, Renee asked with growing worry.  
“We’re fine. Everything happened so fast, there was no time to call it. Plus, we could still keep the cover going. Listen, there’s something else. Burwell lied about having already the material in place and he admitted to me that he hadn’t recovered it yet. Apparently the man he was dealing with is the Russian ambassador, Misha Golubev. I need you to do a complete search on him, ok?”  
“The ambassador is involved? Oh God…anyway, yeah, we’ll start looking into it now.”  
“Good, let me know if you find something. In the meantime, we’ll try to do the same from here, we’re at the embassy now.”  
“What? Jack, the ambassador benefits of the diplomatic inviolability, you can’t interrogate him.”  
“I know. Right now he’s just talking with Burwell, but as soon as we have proof of his involvement, we can’t stop because of that, you have to contact President Suvarov and –  
A blast forced Jack to interrupt the talking. Tony immediately moved closer to the window to see what was happening: two SUVs have just smashed the front gate and a group of men with bulletproof vests and assault rifles were making their way inside the embassy, shooting at the guards.  
“Jack!”, exclaimed Tony, while Jack was reaching the window.  
“Renee, we’re under assault, I have to call you back”, said Jack, cutting off the call abruptly.  
“How many have you counted?”, Jack asked to Tony who was at the window for a little more.  
“At least 10, 12. Who are these men?”  
“I don’t know. But something tells me that Burwell was not the only one to know about the involvement of Golubev with the nuclear material”, replied Jack, moving away from the window as the shooting and screaming were getting closer to them. “We can’t stay here.”  
Jack started to look around the room to see if there was another way out. A vent on the ceiling caught his attention and he immediately started pushing a table under it.  
“Help me!”, he shouted to Tony, who began pushing too. Then, after hitting the vent with his elbow, he got into it, followed by Tony a second after. Once in the ceiling, they put the grid back.  
A few moments later, gunshots hit the door and the security guard who was standing by it. One of the assaulters quickly checked the room, but not seeing anyone inside, got out a few seconds after.  
In the ventilation duct Jack and Tony began crawling towards the main room where most of the screams were coming from. Before their eyes, through the grate, they could see the assaulters taking hostage the embassy personal and gathering it, making everyone sit on the floor.  
Jack took his phone again.  
“Renee, it’s still me – Jack whispered, moving away from the grid.  
“Jack, what happened?”, Renee asked still concerned and confused.  
“A group of men heavily armed has just assaulted the embassy. We’ve managed to take cover, but their taking everyone hostage, probably in order to get to the ambassador”, explained Jack trying to keep his voice down.  
“We haven’t received any alarm yet.”  
“Trust me, you’ll get it. It’s right before our eyes”, Jack said, glancing back to the grid where the hostiles were still threatening the hostages to sit down and stay quiet.  
“Do you think they know about the involvement of Golubev in this matter with the nuclear weapon?”, Renee asked him while digiting something on her computer.  
“The timing of the assault doesn’t leave many doubts. Either they’re here to claim the uranium or to make Golubev shut up about it, we need to get to him before they could do it or we may lose our chance to stop this potential terrorist attack.”  
“Yeah I know. We will contact President Suvarov and we’ll send a team there as soon as he gives us his grant to get in.”  
“Ok, I gotta go. I’ll send you some photos of these men so you can try the facial recognition.”  
“Ok, be careful, Jack”, she added at last with a caring tone.  
“Yeah.”  
Jack put the phone back in his pocket and then moved closer to Tony.  
“Got anything on these men?”, he asked in a whisper.  
“Not much, except that they speak Russian to each other.”  
Then Jack used his phone to take some pictures to the assaulters and send them to Renee. Among the hostages on the floor, also Burwell was recognized. After finishing with the photos, Jack began talking again:  
“Listen, I need to go and reach the ambassador before they do, I can’t let him be killed before knowing where the uranium is.”  
“Jack, they’re probably all over the place to find him, how do you think you can reach him first? Plus,  
I think his security has probably locked him up in some panic room by now, so it would be impossible to get close to him.”  
“We don’t know for sure where he is, but we have to try. I’ll have Renee send me the schematics of the building.”  
Jack started moving through the duct. Tony sighed.  
“A’ight, let’s go.”  
“No, I’ll go. I need someone to stay here and check what happens with the hostages in order to provide information when the FBI will arrive”, Jack replied turning back to him. “I’ll call you later. Mute your phone.”  
“Yeah”, Tony said with a condescending tone.  
Jack was already gone in the dark of the tunnel, using his phone as the only guiding light.  
After a while, Tony noticed a second grid on the room closer to the hostiles and decided to reach it. As he was crawling through the duct, something disturbing coming from a room nearby caught his attention. They were screams.  
Moving closer to the source of the noise, he barely could see from another grate what was happening. One of the assaulters was shouting to a man sitting in front a computer, holding a gun pointed at his head in order to make him do something. Besides him, another woman was in the room a few steps away from them and in complete terror. A guard was lying on the floor near the door in a puddle of blood.  
“I tell you one more time, you have to give me access to the system and unlock the fire wall leading to the ambassador office”, ordered the hostile to the man.  
“I can’t do it from here, I swear!”, cried out the man in response.  
“Da”. A second after the hostile fired his gun and pushed away the chair with the lifeless man. Immediately the woman yelled in desperation and started crying. Turning his gun to her, the assaulter screamed:  
“You. Come here.”  
From above the ceiling, Tony felt like a cramp in his stomach. It was an old sensation that he hadn’t felt in years. He couldn’t have stayed there and watched that innocent girl getting murdered, he had to do something. Despite what Jack had told him to do, he decided that he would have made a little deviation first and started crawling back to the entry point of the tunnel.  
In the room, the woman was still in her place, paralyzed with terror.  
“I’VE SAID COME HERE!”, repeated the man visibly angry keeping his weapon pointed at her. The woman began walking towards him, shaking.  
“Now you know what you have to do.”  
She tried to reply something, but words just didn’t come out at first.  
“I-I don’t…”  
“YES, YOU DO. Don’t make me lose my patience here”, he said, pressing the gun on her head. She was just standing in panic.  
The door on the side of the desk slowly opened and Tony entered the room as quietly as possible. As he walked towards the man from behind his shoulders, the woman noticed him and instinctively turned her eyes on him. The hostile noted it.  
“What?”  
Before he could turn around to have a look himself, two hands had already taken him from behind, making him drop his gun. They began fighting, pushing each other against the desk and then the wall while the woman was looking at them with terror. The hostile managed to have the upper hand on Tony and pushed him against a library, making him smash its glass door with his back and fall on the floor.  
Almost in the same instant, Tony reached the gun on the floor and the terrorist picked up a paper cutter from the desk and pointed at the girl’s neck.  
“DROP IT OR I KILL HER!”  
“A’ight, A’ight, stay calm…I’ll drop–  
Before finishing the sentence, Tony fired a shot, hitting him perfectly in the head. While falling on the ground, the hostile managed to cut the girl in the lower part of the neck. Immediately, Tony run to her.  
“Are you ok?”  
She remained in silence, looking in shock the blood on her hand that she had just taken off her wound.  
“It’s over, just breath now – Tony said softly – Let me see the wound.”  
She nodded and slowly turned her head the opposite site to uncover her wound. Tony stared at the cut for a few seconds, gently moving away both her hair and the collar of her blouse.  
“It didn’t hit the jugular, ok? It’s not a deep cut, it just bleeds a lot because there are a lot of small vessels in the neck, ok?” he tried to reassure her. “You’ll be fine, just keep pushing with your hand for now, ok?”  
“Ok”, she responded with a low voice while he was gently guiding her hand back on the wound. “Who are you? Are you a cop?”  
Tony couldn’t help but smile a little. If only she knew that until a few hours ago he was a prisoner condemned to death for terrorism and murder.  
“No…I once was a federal agent, but I’m not anymore – he admitted – Let’s just say that I’m helping the FBI on provisional basis.”  
“So, you’re like…a consultant?”  
Tony smiled again.  
“Yeah, something like that. Listen, we can’t stay here, they’re probably gonna come looking for him very soon. Come on.”  
Tony began walking to the door, picking up the fallen guns from both the terrorist and the guard. Feeling that she was not following, he turned around to see her staring at her dead friend.  
“There’s nothing else you can do for him. Come on.”  
Wiping out her tears, she started walking after him. After having checked that the hallway was clear, they both left the room.


	11. Thread and needle

Even though he had told her not to worry about her injury, he knew that they couldn’t have ignored it for long. The rescue team could have taken much time to arrive, they should have done something now.  
“This way”, whispered Tony to the girl while passing by a restroom.  
Once she was inside, he checked the corridor one more time before closing the door behind him.  
In the restroom, he put his gun back and immediately moved close to a first aid cabinet and started looking into it.  
“Who are these men? What do they want from the ambassador?”, the woman asked.  
“We still don’t know much about them, but we know that the ambassador is involved in pretty serious stuff”, he replied while taking some bandages, disinfectant and a suture kit from the cabinet.  
“What kind of stuff? Corruption? Fraud?”  
“Way worse.”  
The woman gave him a confused look.  
“Drugs?”  
Tony shook his head.  
“Murder? Do you want me to go on and list all the crimes I know or you’re gonna tell me?”  
Tony smiled a little.  
“You know, it’s not like I can tell you everything…–  
“Because it’s classified, yeah I’ve seen it in the movies”, she interrupted him.  
“Yep.”  
“But maybe, since I’ve just been attacked by those people, I’ve earned the right to know what’s going on, uh?”  
Tony sighed.  
“A’ight. Let’s just say that the ambassador may be involved in the planning of a terrorist attack that could take place on our soil.”  
“Oh God, what kind of terrorist attack?”  
Tony turned around to give her a “really?” look.  
“Ok, ok, I get it. You can’t tell me”, she said with a bit of resignation.  
Tony finished washing his hands and came in front of her with some paper towel soaked with disinfectant. Looking at her in her light blue eyes for the first time, he couldn’t help but to think how beautiful she was.  
“What is your name?”, he asked her with a soft tone.  
“Anna… Anna Miller.”  
“A’ight Anna, I’m Tony. I’m gonna clean up your wound, ok? I’m not gonna lie to you, this is gonna burn like hell, but I need you not to scream, otherwise some of those men could hear you and find us, ok?”  
“Ok…”, she whispered, more worried.  
“A’ight. You ready?”  
She nodded. Then, Tony placed the paper towel on her neck for a second, just as fast as he believed could be enough to disinfect it. Anna tried her best not to scream while the alcohol felt like fire on her skin.  
“Done – he murmured while throwing away the paper which was now covered in blood – That was the worst part, ok? Just breath now.”  
Anna stared at him while still panting in pain. Scanning his dark brown eyes, she thought there was something both mysterious and sad behind them.  
Tony went back to the sink to take the needle and the thread.  
“So, do you have a surname, Tony aka the consultant?”, she asked not willing to give up with the questions.  
“Does it really matter?”, he said coming back to her.  
“I told you mine”, she replied smiling.  
“I need you to look up and right”, he continued, pretending to ignore her question.  
“Good, since I may have some problem with blood…”  
“Ok, this will just sting a little…you ready?”  
Anna exhaled and then nodded again. Tony began to suture her wound. In order to distract her from the pain he decided to make her talk.  
“So, what do you do here? You’re like a diplomat or something?”  
“I’m an interpreter – she responded with a little sufferance in her voice– My father is American and my mother is Russian, so it just came pretty easy for me. I’ve worked here for two years by now, before that I travelled a lot between the US and Europe. You know, I was tired of not being able to stay in a place for a while and I thought it was time to settle somewhere and do something more relaxed…Until today of course.”  
Tony smiled.  
“Yeah, of course. Anyway, I get what you mean”, he said while continuing his suturing work.  
“Luka, on the other way, you know, the guy who was in that room with me before – she explained with a cracked voice – He just came here two months ago…he has wanted this job so bad…”  
Seeing her eyes filling up with tears, Tony decided to switch topic and grant her some information more.  
“Almeida”, he said.  
She lowered her eyes back at him with a confused look. “What?”  
“My surname is Almeida”, he repeated.  
“Oh – she smiled – So it wasn’t so secret after all. I knew you had some latino origin though... Well, at least you haven’t spent your childhood going visiting relatives in freezing Russia.”  
Tony smiled.  
“We’re done here”, he stated while putting a band-aid on her wound. “And, technically, I’m from Chicago. Coldest city in America.”  
She laughed. Tony went back to the sink to wash his hands.  
“Thank you for this – she said, getting serious again – And for saving my life.”  
Tony looked up in the mirror and glanced at her.  
“Yeah, no problem.”  
Then, he turned to try to see his flank in the mirror. A big sliver of glass from the library was lodged in his back.  
Anna noticed that something was wrong and came closer.  
“Are you hurt?”, she asked with a worried tone.  
“Nothing serious. It’s just a sliver”, he minimized.  
“Well, you can’t leave it in there.”  
“Until it’s inside, it will stop most of the bleeding. Taking it out, it would make it serious.”  
Anna glared at him: “So, what, we do nothing? We’ve got everything to treat it here.”  
“Yeah, but I can’t reach it on my back.”  
“I can help you.”  
Tony turned to her to be sure she really meant it:  
“Would you?”  
“Yes, you did it for me”, she replied, founding odd that he would have suspected it after everything he’d done for her.  
“What about your blood problem?”  
“I…I’ll get over it. That’s about time.”  
“A’ight.”  
While he was starting to prepare everything she might have needed, she continued: “But you’ll have to tell me what I have to do, step by step, because I’ve no idea.”  
“Now, that’s reassuring – he said sarcastically – Don’t worry, I’ll tell you.”  
Tony passed her some paper towels soaked in disinfectant like the ones he had used before.  
“I need you to remove the sliver and then press with this”, he said.  
Anna nodded and then hesitated a moment staring at the glass sliver covered in blood.  
“You’re sure you can do this? Once it’s out there’s no turning back.”  
“Yes, I know.”  
Then, she suddenly found the courage to go on and did what he told her. Tony winced with pain for a second, then he began guiding her again: “Ok, now take this – he passed her the circle needle with the thread already into it – You have to start at about a ¼ inch from the right side and go deep the same if you want it to hold.”  
“Ok”, she answered while trying to make her hand stop shaking. After a couple of failed attempts, she managed to complete her first stich.  
“You have to pull the thread more”, he advised her.  
“Yeah, it’s just…I don’t wanna hurt you.”  
“You’re not”, he tried to reassure her.  
She nodded and pulled harder, making Tony regret for a moment his advice. Then, trying to suppress her anxiety she added: “You know what’s ironic? My brother is a doctor. “  
“Then too bad he’s not here”, he interrupted with a grin.  
“I know, I’m bad at this”, she gave him a smirk back. “Anyway, what I meant was, that when he was a freshman in college, he sutured every orange or banana he found in the house. I may also have tried once, but never really learnt something from him, even if he had always told me that some things could come in handy sometime.”  
“Don’t worry, you’ll learn them anyway. In the meantime, you can try thinking you’re just suturing an orange.”  
“Yes, same thing”, she smiled sarcastically, preparing for the next stitch.  
Tony’s phone started to vibe, making Anna raised her eyes again.  
“Yeah”, he answered, gesturing Anna to go on.  
“Tony, I found the ambassador”, whispered Jack still in the air vent. “He and a security guard managed to lock themselves behind a fire breaking wall while some of the hostiles are trying to destroy it. I can see them from the vent, but I can’t come down here, I have to find another way in.”  
“Ok.”  
“What’s the hostage situation there? Have they tried to reach out and list their demands yet?”  
“Well – he began with a little sufferance in his voice, looking up in the mirror – there was an emergency and I had to move away for a while. I’ll get back in a few minutes.”  
Jack got immediately upset.  
“What emergency?? Tony, if you’re screwing with me again, I swear–  
“I’m not, Jack. I had to intervene in another hostage situation. I’ll explain to you later.”  
“Fine.” Even if he wasn’t completely convinced by the explanation, Jack decided to believe him for now.  
“What about the FBI? Are they – Tony stopped talking for a second, raising his eyes at the mirror with an aching expression on his face. Behind him, Anna spelled the word “sorry” with her lips. Then he continued: ”Are they close to come in?”  
“I haven’t got any news on their ETA yet. Tony, is everything ok? You don’t sound right.”  
“Yeah, I’ll let you know when I’m back in position.”  
“Ok”, Jack hanged up.  
“What’s going on? I thought the FBI was already here”, asked Anna as soon as he had put the phone away.  
“No, for now there’s just me and my partner, but they’re gonna be here soon.”  
“Ok”, she said not really reassured by the answer. “I’ve finished here, what do I do?”  
“Just make a knot and cut the thread.”  
She nodded and did it. Tony turned around to take a partial look at his sutured wound in the mirror.  
“I’ll end up with such a weird scar”, he said.  
Her face immediately darkened with a worried expression.  
“I’m kidding – he smiled – You did a great job, your brother would be proud. Thank you.”  
She showed a little smirk while putting a band-aid on. Tony, then, moved close to the door and pulled out his gun again.  
“We have to go back to the lobby – he said – Follow me.”


	12. The truth

On his way to get to the ambassador on the second floor, Jack had found a grid beyond the fire breaking wall big enough to be used as an exit point from the vent. Once outside, his plan was to go to the room adjacent to the ambassador’s office, get out of the window and try to reach the balcony of the office, possibly without falling off.  
Still without a gun, while arriving to that room Jack had been looking around for a weapon to use in case the security guard who was with the ambassador would have decided to shoot him after seeing him entering through the window, but there was nothing. He had to come up with a distraction.  
Looking around, what caught his attention was a fire extinguisher, a good distraction, but a heavy boulder to carry on a cornice. Seeing no other usable tool around, he decided he had no other choice but to try.  
Jack opened the window and went out on the balcony of his room. Around the embassy many police cars were now surrounding the area. The FBI had arrived. Thinking about the mess that could have happened shortly, he realized that he had to move even faster. Without thinking twice, he quickly climbed over the railing and walked on the cornice the few meters that separated him from the ambassador’s office, avoiding looking down. Once on the balcony, he took a rapid look inside: Golubev and the guard were talking and they both seemed very shaken by the whole situation.  
Just when he was about to break the glass and enter, Jack’s phone started to viber.  
“Bauer”, he answered in a whisper.  
“Jack, the FBI has arrived and it’s ready to break in. What’s the status there?”, asked Renee.  
“Renee, they can’t break in now, there are about twenty hostages downstairs and I think they’re gonna start killing them if the FBI tries to enter without a proper standoff”  
“I know it’s risky, but we’ve just spoken to President Suvarov and he wants us to intervene immediately or he’ll consider the US responsible for what has happened to his embassy.”  
“But this is crazy, the assaulters are indeed Russian, I’ve sent you their photos, how could he even think to put this on us?”  
“You know Suvarov, he’s always looking for an excuse to create problem with us.”  
“Listen, just give me a few more minutes, I’m about to talk to the ambassador and then I’ll get back to the hostages and me and Tony will try to help you on the inside to make the irruption safer, ok?  
“I’ll try Jack, but I can’t assure you anything.”  
“Ok thanks, I’ll get back to you”, he hanged up.  
Jack broke the windowpane with the base of the fire extinguisher and then used it inside of the room. A white smoke spread quickly in front of the window, hiding everything behind. The guard immediately started to shoot blindly at whatever had just broken the glass, while Jack crawled under the desk and grabbed his feet, making him fall on the ground. A second later, Jack had already taken control of his gun and knocked him unconscious with it.  
The ambassador stood there in terror, able only to raise his hands and to scream in Russian not to shoot him.  
Jack aimed his weapon at him.  
“You’d better do what I told you now”, he threatened.  
Golubev gave him a confused look.  
“You’re not one of them”, he said to Jack.  
“No, but, trust me, I could be even worse – he responded with confidence – Where is the uranium?”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
Jack punched him hard, making him loose his balance and fall. Then he took a chair and put it besides him.  
“SIT!”, he ordered with rage.  
“Who are you? – asked Golubev with fear and pain – You are American…”  
“I’m a federal agent and you’d better start talking. We know you are involved in the smuggling of nuclear material, Burwell told us. You’d better start collaborating with us and help us find it before it could do any damage or I can assure you that things would get very hard for you.”  
“This is Russian soil, I have complete inviolability here, you can’t do anything to me.”  
“The weapon that you smuggled in our country and tried to sell to a terrorist group is now on our soil, so I don’t give a damn about the privileges that you have here, you’re gonna tell me where is the uranium, one way or the high way!”  
“If you torture me or kill me, this could be considered an act of war for my country.”  
“You’re forgetting the fact that some of your own compatriots have just assaulted this embassy to get to you, probably looking for the same thing or trying to shut you up about it. So, if something happens to you, it won’t be hard to make the fault fall on them.”  
Golubev was now looking at him with more fear. What he was saying was right, they could’ve turned the situation whatever they like, plus he sure wouldn’t want to be there if his felon compatriots, who he had betrayed selling their weapon to some lousy Americans, could make a breach in the wall and reach him. At least, with the police, he could still have some advantages.  
“I want complete immunity from your President and extradition to a country of my choice. Then, I will tell you anything I know”, he demanded.  
Jack looked at him for a moment. It was always a challenge to decide whether to try to break someone with the use of the force or to grant them immunity to gather vital information. Usually, find an agreement was faster and more reliable.  
“I see what I can do”, Jack replied picking up his phone.

On the ground floor, the run of Tony and Anna to the lobby where he had previously entered the vent, ended up abruptly when two hostiles were spotted at the end of the hallway leading to its door. Tony stopped Anna with his arm and glanced her to come back the opposite way in order to try to reach the room where the hostages were hold from another passage.  
Turning a corner, another assaulter was seen in the corridor, walking with his rifle in his hands. Tony decided to take cover in a room along the way, letting Anna go in before him as soon as he had checked it was empty.  
“We can’t go that way, we have to wait for them to move away from here”, he told her once inside. Anna nodded and then started walking through the room while Tony was waiting near the door.  
Since the waiting was getting longer, Anna thought it could have been a good moment to leave her curiosity unleashed.  
“You know, there’s still something I don’t get – she was thinking out loud – You said that the FBI was unaware of this assault and that they’re just coming now, but you and your partner were already here and managed to hide in time…did you know that this would happen?”  
Tony turned to her, a little surprise by the question. “No, we didn’t. We just went here to find proof on the ambassador and then we got caught up in the middle, but we were able to take cover before they could take us hostages too.”  
“So, you two just came here alone? Was the FBI at least aware of this alleged involvement of the ambassador?”  
“They knew that we were following a lead, but we would give them more details once the situation was unfolded.”  
“Ok, but how could you follow a lead in here? Technically, this is Russian soil, how could you get an authorization to interrogate the ambassador without any proof on him? It feels a little odd to me”, she insisted.  
“We didn’t need an authorization because we didn’t get in here as officers.”, he responded, getting more annoyed by the questions. ”Before all of this blew out, we were working undercover with one of the contacts of the ambassador.”  
“So, you’re not an agent, but you follow leads for the FBI, work in the field and go undercover for them…what exactly are you?”, she asked him still confused.  
Tony felt that all this pressing was really starting to get on his nerves.  
“Why are you so interested in me or what I’m doing? In case you didn’t notice, we’re still under attack, so we should be focusing on staying alive, instead of answering some stupid questions”, he said in anger.  
“I know, but we’re stuck in here together and I just thought it would’ve helped me to know the truth instead of being lied or treated like a child.”  
“Trust me, it’s better for you if you don’t know it.”  
“Oh, come on, I’m a big girl, I can handle it, whatever it is that you’re hiding from me.”  
Tony sighed.  
“Fine. You want the truth? I’ll tell you”, he said while walking and stopping in front of her. “Until this morning I was a prisoner sentenced to death for conspiring with a terrorist group, hijacking an airline and homicide. Then, it came out that one of the persons behind today’s terrorist threat was a man who used to work with me when I was in a criminal group, so I was granted a partial pardon in exchange for restoring a cover with him. That cover was the one that led us here to your ambassador. What will happen from now, I have no idea, but I’ll probably gonna end up in jail again after all this. So, that’s who I really am and that’s the truth you wanted so bad. “  
Tony stopped for a second to look at her while she was listening in shock to all his words.  
“Are you happy now?”, he then added cheekily, sure that she would regret wanting to know more about him.  
Then, he simply moved back to the door, leaving her paralyzed by what she’s just heard.

Back in the ambassador’s office, Jack was holding his phone to Golubev’s ear. The ambassador was talking in Russian with his lawyer who had been recruited to validate the immunity agreement. After having assured that everything was correct, Jack called Renee again and put her on speakerphone to make her hear whatever Golubev would say.  
“All right, you have your agreement and your lawyer has approved it. Now, you must start talking with us. How are you involved in all of this?”, Jack asked with impatience.  
“It all started a few months ago when I knew about the arrival of this package from Russia. I didn’t know exactly what was all about, but my task was to coordinate the delivery to this group of Russian separatists which I supported back in Russia. It was only a couple of days ago that I discovered that the package was indeed nuclear material and that they wanted to use it in a terrorist attack in order to let the fault fall on Russia and provoked a retaliation of the US against Moscow. At that point, I tried to divert the delivery to some American contacts I had, but I guess things were already out of my control.”  
“If you really knew about this and wanted to stop it, you should have gone to the authorities. Right now, you are as guilty as the people who are looking for you - said Jack with resentment - Anyway, we can discuss this later, let’s focus on what really matters now: where is the uranium?”  
“It’s in a lab downtown, where they are arming three dirty bombs with it. I can mark its position on the map. Maybe you’re still in time to reach it before the bombs leave for their destinations.”  
Jack handled him his phone to make him mark the position.  
“What are the final targets of the bombs?”, he asked while he was looking for the right spot on the map.  
“I’m not aware of that, I was just in charge of the delivery of the material.”  
“Look – Jack began again with a brooding tone – I could still rip off your agreement if you’re hiding information from us or if we cannot secure the bombs in time.”  
“I’m telling everything I know. I have no reason to want them to explode now. If you want to stop them in time, you’d better start moving.”  
Jack took back the phone and sent the position to Renee.  
“Renee, did you get it?”  
“Yes, Jack, we’ll send a team immediately.”  
“Thanks. I’ll call you back.”, he hanged up.  
Then, he ripped some wires from the computer and used them to tie up both the ambassador and his security guard to their chairs.  
“What are you doing? I’ve already done what you asked”, Golubev got surprised and scared again.  
“The FBI’s gonna burst in here very soon, but I have to take care of something downstairs, so I just want to make sure you won’t move or do anything stupid, at least until we’ve found the bombs.”, replied Jack, still with a menacing tone.  
“But what about the assaulters? What if they’re managing to get in here before the FBI arrives?”, Golubev continued in panic.  
“You should’ve thought about that before getting involved with terrorists who wanted to detonate three dirty bombs – closed Jack with a grin – Good luck.”  
After finishing tiding them, he headed back to the balcony.

Back on the ground floor, Tony noticed that the man who was blocking the corridor, had now moved away. It was time to go. Without turning to Anna, he simply said: “The hallway is clear now, I have to go and check what’s happening with the hostages.”  
Not hearing an answer back, he turned around to see her, sat on the floor with her knees in her arms, still deeply affected by their previous conversation.  
“Anna? – he continued – Did you hear what I just said?”  
Still no answer but a brief glance with her eyes full of tears.  
Tony felt a cramp in his stomach. He’d been such an asshole to a person who had just seen death in her face. After a sigh, he decided to go closer and sit before her.  
“Listen – he began with a soft voice – I’m sorry if I scared you before, it’s been a hell of a week, I haven’t slept in days and I’m really nervous.”  
Anna was listening quietly, keeping her eyes down.  
“I know I did some terrible things in the past and you’re probably thinking I’m a monster now…I can’t blame you for that, I’m the first who’s thinking it every night when I wake up in cold sweat remembering what I’ve done. The problem is that, even if I do regret them now, there’s nothing I can do to erase them. Not even the good that I’m trying to do today.”  
Tony paused for a second, feeling overwhelmed by emotion.  
“Anyway – he continued, trying to bottle it all up again – what I want you to know is that, despite everything I told you about my past, I have no intention to hurt you. You’re safe with me, you don’t have to worry about that, ok? What I’m trying to do here is just to stop this attack and make everyone get out without getting harmed. You’ve got to believe me.”  
Anna felt sincerity in his words and was fighting hard to keep avoiding his look.  
“Now, would you please look at me again…or start asking another hundred questions if you prefer?”, he added with a smile.  
By instinct, she felt the tension relieved and couldn’t help that raise her eyes at him and smile back.  
“Good”, he stated, feeling relieved himself.  
“I don’t think you’re a monster by the way, or, at least, not anymore – she felt like she ought to say – If you were, you wouldn’t have risked your life and your mission to save me, you wouldn’t have lost your time to suture my wound and you wouldn’t have come to me right now to apologize for just being completely honest with me after I stressed you to tell me the truth.”  
Tony remained speechless. It had been so long that someone hadn’t taken his defenses or addressed to him other than to accuse him or despise him, let alone to comfort him. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten how good it was to be considered other than the selfish strategist willing to do anything to get his revenge. In that moment, he felt like the rest of the world had disappeared. He just wanted to kiss her. But he couldn’t do it, it wouldn’t have been right for her. Pushing that thought away from his mind, he reminded that he had a task to do.  
“I need to go now”, he told her in a detached way, pretending to ignore everything she just said.  
“Can I come with you?”  
“No, it’s safer if you just wait here. I’ll be back soon.”  
“But what if someone comes in here?”, she asked, a little worried.  
Tony thought that it was indeed a real possibility.  
“A’ight, take this”, he told her while handing her one of the guns he had previously taken from the hostile and the security guard. “Have you ever shot?”  
“Does the amusement park count?”  
Tony made a small grimace. “Were you at least good at it?”  
“Is one can out of ten shots good?”  
“Not really.”  
“Then no.”  
“Look – he turned serious again – If someone comes in here to threaten you, just shoot at the chest. It’s bigger than a can, you won’t miss it.”  
She nodded. Then, he came closer to her and gently grab her hand and put it on the gun she was holding with the other one. “Keep the gun with two hands, it will give you more stability.” He went on unfolding her elbow. ”Also, keep your right arm straight, it will allow you to control the weapon better once the recoil kicks in. Finally, remember to remove the safety. This is off – he pushed her finger against the small lever – And this is on – he pushed it again – Any other question?”  
Anna gazed at his dark eyes. She was still scared about having to defend herself alone, but, somehow, he had given her more confidence.  
“No”, she replied.  
“A’ight.”  
Tony stood up, headed to the door.  
“Tony”, she felt like an urgency to call.  
He stopped and turn around.  
“You said that once you were a federal agent. What made you turn to the dark side?”  
Tony paused for a second, thinking if sharing also the vulnerable part of his story.  
“I’ve been devoted my whole life to the government, sacrificing everything I had because of my job, but all that I’ve ever got in return was an unfair sentence for high treason. But I still was willing to leave everything behind and start a new life away from that world with my wife. Until…”  
Tony paused again, feeling a lump in his throat. No matter how many years had passed, recalling that moment was still devastating to him. He tried to suffocate his emotions and went on: “Until they bombed our car and she got murdered. She meant everything to me and after that I…I just lost it.”  
Anna felt the weight of all that sufferance crushing her.  
“I’m sorry about your wife”, was all she was able to say.  
“Yeah”, he whispered. Then, he got out of the room.


	13. Closed space

After getting out of the room, Tony had met with Jack again and together they had checked all the corridors near the lobby where the hostages were taken. They had counted three men around the outside the room, but many others could have been inside and there was no chance to know it from there. Renee had also called them to let them know that the terrorists had threaten the FBI saying that, if they tried to break in, multiple charges positioned on the doors of the lobby would explode, jeopardizing the lives of the hostages inside.  
Tony and Jack were now coming back to the room where Anna was. Seeing Jack first, Anna instantly raise her gun at him, not knowing if he was one of the hostiles. Jack did the same in response:  
“Put the gun down”, he ordered her.  
She kept staring at him with the gun drawn, not knowing what to do.  
A moment after, also Tony entered the room.  
“Jack, she’s a civilian”, he warned him.  
“Put it down!”, he continued, not backing off until he would be sure that the danger, intentional or unintentional, was over.  
“Anna, he’s with me, you can put it down now”, Tony tried to reassure her.  
“Ok.” Anna slowly lowered the gun and Jack did the same right after.  
Jack started taking a look around the room.  
“We need to gather information about the charges they’re planning to use. We can’t put the hostages at risk”, he said to Tony.  
“I know, but we can’t go back to that air vent entrance without letting them know we’re here. We need to find another way.”  
Jack’s attention stopped on a small grid on the ceiling.  
“We can use that”, he pointed with his eyes.  
“That’s too small for us to enter the duct, we need a bigger entry point like the other one.”  
Jack eyed the girl in the opposite side of the room. “You’re right, it’s too small for us, but what about her? She’s tiny, she could do it.”  
“C’mon, Jack, she’s a civilian and she’s still in shock for being attacked by one of those men. What if they spot her?”  
“We can guide her from here, she won’t be in much danger as long as she does it quietly – then, noting still a bit of concern on Tony’s face, he added – We have no other choice, Tony. She seems to trust you, ask her.”  
Tony sighed.  
“A’ight”  
Then, he went back to Anna.  
“Hey”  
She immediately felt that something was wrong.  
“Is everything ok? When the FBI’s gonna break in?”  
“Very soon, but first we might need your help for something.”  
“My help? – she asked with a mix of confusion and anxiety – “Uhm...ok…what should I do?”  
“The terrorists told the FBI that they bombed the doors of the lobby and that they’re gonna detonate them and kill the hostages if they try to enter. We need to identify the detonators and see where they are placed in order to allow a safe entrance. We could do it through the air vent, but unfortunately, me and Jack can’t fit through that grid up there to access it. But we think you could do it…are you willing to help us on this?”  
“Yeah, sure, I think I can do it – she answered spontaneously – But, once in the vent what should I do exactly?”  
“Once inside, we’re gonna give you a phone with a camera and we’ll guide you till the lobby. Then you’ll just have to show us what’s happening in there and zoom on the charges.”  
“Ok, no problem. I’ve always wanted to become a reporter.”  
“Good – he smiled with admiration – Come on.”  
Anna followed him and they both reached Jack.  
“I’m Jack Bauer, I’m a federal agent”, he introduced himself.  
“Anna Miller.”  
“Anna, Tony already explained to you what we need you to do, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“We’re gonna help you get in there and then we’ll guide through this phone until the room where the hostages are held – Jack handled her one of their phones – You can also use it as a light since it’s gonna be dark in there. Once you’ve arrived, you’ll just have to make a video for us, any other questions?”  
“Uhm…no, I don’t think so.”  
“Ok. Thank you for doing this, it’s really important in order to save the other hostages’ lives. Just remember to be as quiet as you can and nothing’s gonna happen to you. If you have any more doubts, just whisper to me on the phone, all right?”  
Anna nodded. Then, Jack helped her to get in the air vent and started to tell her where to go. The duct was so dark and full of dust, but she managed to slide to the lobby without further complications. Once over that room, she began to take the video.  
“Renee, are you seeing this?”, Jack told while watching the screen with Tony and also being on direct communication with the FBI.  
“Yes, Jack, we can see four men inside with automatic weapons.”  
“Anna, could you point the camera to the doors and zoom a bit?”  
Anna did what Jack told her, trying to be as quiet as possible. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was afraid almost that they could hear it and spot her because of this.  
“I don’t see any detonator on the doors – stated Jack doubtfully – Anna, could you turn the camera to the opposite side, please?”  
“Nothing there too – intervened Renee – Do you think it was just a play to make us stand back?”  
“It’s possible – replied Jack – I think we can proceed with the plan then: me and Tony will create a diversion to lure some of the men into a trap. Then, when I’ll be in position near the entrance of the lobby, I’ll give you a signal and you can cut the power off and send in the team with the night goggles. Got it?”  
“Ok, Jack, I tell the team to stay put and wait for your signal.”  
“Ok, thanks.”  
“Jack”, Anna whispered on the phone.  
“Is everything ok there?”, both Jack and Tony listened back to the phone with apprehension.  
“I think there are some charges somewhere. I just heard two of them talking, asking if they were all set.”  
“But we’ve checked the doors, there are no detonators there. Are you sure you heard it right?”  
“Yes, I’m half Russian, they were talking with low voice, but I’m sure of what I heard. They said that the charges were armed and that if the feds try to attack, they will have a surprise”, she insisted with confidence.  
Jack looked up to Tony for a second and then started talking again: “Ok, maybe they could have placed them on the front doors. Renee, make sure that also the front doors are checked for explosives and that everyone keeps a safety distance before entering the building.”  
“Copy that.”  
“Anna, you can come back now. We got everything we needed.”  
A few minutes later, Anna was back at the entry grid and Tony helped her to get down, taking her by the hips. For a couple of seconds, she ended up in his arms, both staring in each other’s eyes and everything around stopped.  
“Thank you again for doing this – Jack’s voice abruptly interrupted the magic from behind – You did great.”  
Anna quickly backed off with embarrassment and turned towards Jack.  
“No problem, hope it helped you.”  
“It did. Now, we’ve got to go, but I want you to hide in here and when the FBI will enter this room, immediately identify yourself and raise your hands, understand? Don’t let them see you with the gun or it can end up badly, ok?”  
“Ok.”  
“Good. Lets’ go Tony”, Jack said, heading for the door.  
Tony turned to Anna one last time, not able to find any appropriate word for the moment.  
“Be careful”, she whispered.  
“Yeah.”  
Then, he followed Jack outside.


	14. Alive again

It was way past 1 AM when the situation at the embassy was finally back in control. The operation had proceeded according to the plan and, with the help of Jack and Tony from the inside, the FBI had managed to break in and take the hostiles down or into custody without jeopardizing the lives of the hostages. Also the ambassador had been taken into custody for further interrogation.  
Outside the building, it was still full of police cars and ambulances and everyone was doing their part in continuing the investigation or taking care of the hostages.  
Near to a SUV, Tony was dismissing a paramedic who had checked his wound, while Jack was talking on the phone a little behind. Suddenly, a familiar voice broke the silence.  
“Tony!”  
Tony turned around to see Anna making her way through agents and EMTs.  
“Hey – he smiled with surprise – I didn’t think I would see you again.”  
“I was starting to believe the same since it was really hard to find you in all this chaos”, she admitted smiling back.  
“Yeah, I imagine…how are you? Did they check your wound?”  
“Yes, but they said it was already ok, they just changed the bandage. What about you?”  
“Uhm, yeah, same thing after re-opening and close it the proper way.”  
Anna stared at him for a few seconds.  
“You’re kidding, that’s not true”, she added eventually with a smirk.  
“Yeah, you’re starting to get it. I told you that you did good.”  
“Listen – she became serious again – thank you again for everything. I really can’t think about what could have happened in there if I hadn’t met you.”  
Before Tony was able to say anything, she had already crossed the invisible barrier between them and started to hug him. Caught completely off guard, Tony took a second before allowing himself to lean his arms on her back. Closing his eyes, he could experience this beautiful and warm sensation that took him back of several years. Everything felt so peaceful and right, even if for a brief moment.  
“I’m sorry – she said stepping back with embarrassment – I don’t know what I just–  
“It’s ok, don’t worry. Really.”, he immediately reassured her, making it clear that he didn’t mind it at all.  
“Look – she found the courage to speak up again and let her thoughts flow freely – I know that you told me all that stuff about your past and that you’d probably gonna end up in jail again, but I was thinking… maybe we could still see each other again, maybe I could come visiting you in prison–  
“No, Anna, please don’t do this – he interrupted – Listen to me, I’m a lost case, ok? You are young, beautiful and smart, you don’t need to waste your time over someone like me, ok? It’s not worth it.”  
Anna’s eyes started filling with tears.  
“But what if it is?”, she insisted.  
Tony felt overwhelm by emotions again. On one side, he hated himself for what he was doing and he just wanted to kiss her so badly, especially now that he was sure that she felt the same way. On the other, he knew that he couldn’t let her ruin her life after him, not after what he was planning on doing on Wilson. He had to be harsh now to spare her from being hurt more later.  
“Trust me, it’s not”, he said coldly.  
Anna lowered her eyes, not to show how much she disagreed with him.  
“Listen – he started again – You’ve been through hell this night and you’re not just thinking clearly now. I’m sure that tomorrow, after a good night sleep, you will think differently about me. In a few days you probably won’t even remember me.”  
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re right, maybe I’m just still in shock, but, through all these hours I felt like there was a connection between us, I really can’t explain it with words, but it was something I’ve never felt with people I’ve known for so little. I just thought that you felt it too.”  
Tony knew exactly that feeling, but let her know it was the opposite he was trying to achieve.  
“I don’t – he lied – I’m sorry.”  
“Oh, no, don’t be sorry, I’m just…I’m just so stupid”, she mumbled with confusion and embarrassment. “I…it’s better I just go. Goodbye, Tony.”  
Tony felt like a punch in his stomach.  
“Goodbye, Anna.”  
Then, with her eyes still filled with tears, she turned around and vanished behind the police cars. Tony stared at her, petrified, trying to seize a last image of her until she was out of his sight.  
“You did the right thing.”  
Jack’s voice, a few steps behind, made him snapped back to reality. He quickly regained himself and came back towards the SUV.  
“There’s no point in giving her false hope if you’re still planning on killing Wilson”, Jack continued.  
“I am – Tony stated quickly, just to convince both Jack and himself that his plan hadn’t changed – You know, Jack, these last few hours in there with her have been like…I don’t know, I just felt like I was alive again. After all these years, I’ve almost forgotten how good it was.”  
Jack felt bad for him. Despite everything, he’d never wanted him to end up like this.  
“Tony, you are alive. You have a pardon signed by the President that will allow you to start a new life in another country.”  
Tony showed a disillusioned grin.  
“A new life? To do what?”  
“To do whatever you want”, Jack replied, a little annoyed. “Maybe even to meet someone like Anna.”  
“Yeah”, he laughed sarcastically.  
“You just have to forget about Wilson. This constant thought of revenge hasn’t brought you anything other than pain and misery. Just let it go and, I promise, you’ll feel much better.”  
“I can’t, Jack. I just can’t.”  
Jack looked at him with sadness and impotence. There wasn’t much left he could do other than talking him out.  
Suddenly his phone started to ring.  
“Bauer”, he answered.  
“Jack, it’s Renee.”  
“What’s the status there? Have they found the bombs?”  
“The SWAT team broke into the lab and they found two bombs completed and a detonator. The problem is that in the case holding the uranium rods, there were 12 slots, but 4 of them were empty. We believed that they managed to take them away before we arrived.”  
“Ok. Have you checked sat images to see everyone who left the building in the last few hours?”  
“Yes. We identified a man, Isaak Egorov, who has left just a few minutes before we arrived and has a criminal record with Russian organized crime. We sent an alert on him on all police channels and we’ve just received a possible identification in a residential compound, not far from the embassy.”  
“All right, send me the address, we’ll leave right now.”  
“Ok”.  
Jack put the phone back in his pocket.  
“What’s going on?”, Tony asked almost instantly.  
“They managed to find and secure two of the bombs, but there are still 4 uranium rods missing. We have a lead on the man who may have taken them. We leave right now”, Jack explained before turning to another agent and asking for something.  
“Jack, wait”, Tony stopped him.  
“What?”  
“I think my job here is done.”  
“What are you talking about? This threat isn’t over yet.”  
“I know, but I’m not an agent anymore – Tony stated with remorse – The reason I’m here is because you needed me to restore my cover with Burwell, but now Burwell is in custody and the hostage situation is over. You’ve got plenty of agents who can help you capturing this man. You don’t need me anymore.”  
Jack sighed.  
“You’re right, you did everything we ask you to and more. Every part of our agreement is already valid, so if you want to stop here, I’ll understand. But this is a high critical menace, thousands of lives are still at stake and, despite everything, you’re still one of the best field operative I’ve ever worked with. So, yeah, maybe I don’t need you like this morning, but I do want you to continue.”  
Tony rolled his eyes, still conflicted about what to do.  
“Plus, let me tell you this straight. You told me that, in these last few hours, you’ve felt alive again. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that doing good again and helping to save innocent lives played a big part on that.”  
Tony avoided his look one more time.  
“Anyway, this is your choice – concluded Jack – You just have to understand that I have to finish this before taking you to Wilson. We’ll catch up later if you don’t wanna come with me now.”  
“A’ight.”  
Jack glanced at him with a little regret.  
“Thank you for today, Tony”, Jack said raising his right hand.  
Tony shook his hand. “Yeah.”  
Then, Jack met up with the agent he had talked before and put a case in the trunk. After that, he headed for the driving seat.  
Once inside, before he could turn on the ignition, the passenger’s door opened.  
Jack turned around to see, with surprise, Tony sitting next to him.  
“A’ight, let’s go”, Tony told him.  
Jack smiled. Maybe he did get through after all.  
He then started the car and drove away.


	15. Fifteen minutes

At the residential compound two police cars can be seen in front of the buildings, while some agents were already coordinating an evacuation. Jack parked the car and headed straight to the agent who seemed to be in command, followed by Tony.  
“I’m federal agent Jack Bauer and this is Tony Almeida, do we have a 20 on Egorov?”  
“I’m special agent Jason Meyer, we believed he locked himself up in one of the apartments, we have the order to evacuate the whole buildings.”  
“Agent Meyer, that man has four uranium rods, if a dirty bomb goes off here, it wouldn’t make much difference if these people are inside or outside the building. This way, you’re just giving him a chance to blend in the crowd and get away”, explained Jack, a little annoyed.  
“Agent Bauer, there are 90 apartments in there, we can’t just go throughout all of them to find him, it would take hours. We’ll make everyone get out and then we’ll check the buildings with thermo scan.”  
“Ok, but it might not be enough. It’s night, he could have a disguise on, it would be very easy to miss him – continued Jack – I’ve a better way. Even if the rods have a protective shield on, they do emit low levels of radiations. With a portable Geiger counter, we can easily identify the person who carried them among the others.”  
“Ok, I’ll ask for it and we’ll separate all the men to test them.”  
“Thank you.”  
As the minutes were passing by, the lines of people getting out of the buildings got longer and maintaining order was becoming harder. Two agents with Geiger counters were checking every man who was waiting in line without a positive response for now.  
“Can you tell us what’s going on? Are we in danger?”, voices from the crowd were starting to express their fears and concern.  
“Everyone, please stay calm. You are not in danger, we’re just looking for a man”, responded agent Meyer.  
“But what is that? –insisted one of the men, pointing at the counter – Is this man armed?”  
“This is a metal detector. We just need to be sure no one is carrying weapons.”  
“That is not a metal detector! – said another voice from the crowd – That is a Geiger counter, they’re checking us for radiations, there’s probably a leak or something!”  
Hearing the word “radiations”, everyone got alarmed and started panicking and asking questions. Jack, who was standing a few steps away, quickly got back to handle the situation.  
“There is no leak, everyone please calm down! – continued agent Meyer – Yes, this is a Geiger counter, but it’s just because the man we’re looking for might’ve been exposed to low levels of radiations, so this is a way to detect him.”  
While the discussion went on, involving more agents and people of the crowd, Jack noticed a white man with dark hair towards the end of the line, appearing pretty detached from everything that was happening around. Immediately, he glanced at Tony, who was closer to the man, to keep a look at him. Seeing Tony making a few steps in his direction, the man, somehow, realized that something was wrong and started running. Instantly both Jack and Tony started running after him.  
“FEDERAL AGENT, STOP!”, Jack screamed at him.  
The men kept running.  
“STOP RIGHT THERE OR I WILL SHOOT YOU!”, continued Jack.  
Not seeing any intention of stopping from the man, Jack decided to shoot him in a leg. The man fell down and, a few seconds after, Tony was already blocking him on ground, followed by Jack a moment later.  
While the man was on the ground, panting in pain, Jack removed his dark wig to confirm that his face was matching to the picture he had seen of Egorov before.  
“You son of a bitch, where is the uranium?”, Jack asked with anger, while leaning his weight on the man’s injured leg.  
The man screamed.  
“ANSWER ME!”, insisted Jack, forcing him to look at him.  
“You’re too late – the man replied with a strong Russian accent and with difficulty due to the strong pain.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”, continued Jack more alarmed.  
“In less than 15 minutes we’ll be all death, you’ll never find the bomb in time.”  
“We have found the third detonator at the lab, you’re just messing up with us!” said Jack, getting more upset with him.  
“Do you really think there is no other way to detonate a dirty bomb?”  
Hearing those words, Jack froze for a moment. He couldn’t take the chance to underestimate his words. In the meantime, two agents arrived to arrest the man.  
“Take him into custody”, Jack ordered to them.  
Then, he glanced at Tony to follow him and picked up his phone while running towards the building.  
“Renee, it’s Jack – he said on the phone – We got Egorov in custody, but he said that he armed a dirty bomb with the rods.”  
“How could he do that so fast? We found its detonator back in the lab”, she shared the same doubt as Jack.  
“I know but he probably created some other primer. We can go back in the building with the Geiger counters and see if they can lead us to the bomb, but it may take too much time. When the NEST team is gonna be here? We need more sophisticated instrument to find it faster!”  
“I just spoke with them, they’re gonna be there in 20.”  
“Damn it, Renee, it’s too late! He said that the bomb is gonna blow up in less than fifteen minutes. You need to put me in contact with them right now.”  
“Ok, Jack, hold on.”  
While heading for the entrance, Jack, passing by the agents that had the Geiger counters, took them from their hands, giving one to Tony.  
“I need these – he said not so gently – Make everyone got away from here as fast as they can.”  
The agent nodded.  
“Jack, what are we doing? We can’t sweep the whole building in a few minutes”, asked Tony while entering the building with Jack.  
“I know, but we have to try anyway. Where would you detonate a dirty bomb with a rudimental trigger to amplify the fallout and dispersion of radiations?”  
“I don’t know, probably on a high floor or even the roof of a tall building.”  
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking “, replied Jack while checking the elevators with the Geiger counter. “Elevators are clean, he must have used the emergency stairs.”  
While running towards the stairs, Jack’s phone made a noise again.  
“Agent Bauer, this is Doctor Robert Cassar from NEST”, said a male voice on the phone.  
“Doctor Cassar, hold on, I put you on speakerphone –Jack said while doing so in order to let Tony hear too – Ok, go ahead.”  
“Ok, agent Walker told me that the man who placed the bomb had to replace the original primer with an improvised one.”  
“Yeah, do you think it could still lead to a massive dispersion of radiations?”, Jack asked while they were climbing up the stairs to see if the Geiger counter showed some variations while going up.  
“Well, it’s hard to tell without seeing the primer or knowing the exact location of the bomb – replied Cassar as he was looking on a screen a picture of the rods – What I can tell you is that, due to security reasons, the protective shield of the rods would need a powerful explosive to breach it, unless it was preventively removed or damaged. ”  
Cassar paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, then he resumed talking:” Agent Bauer, do you have a Geiger counter with you?”  
“Yeah, we’re using it to help us locating the bomb right now.”  
“Ok, have you noticed any sudden raise in its measurement?”  
“Not initially, but I’m seeing that now that we are the third floor, it shows around 180 CPM”, replied Jack while checking again its display.  
“All right, the protective shield is built to avoid the dispersion of a potentially harmful quantity of radiations, so if you are already seeing values bigger than 200/300 CPM while still not being in proximity of the bomb, it means that the shield must have been broken.”  
Seeing the measurement getting closer to 200 CPM, Jack stopped and looked up at Tony.  
“I understand, Doctor Cassar. The number is still raising. How far away are you?”  
“We’re about 15 minutes away. Agent Bauer, do you have a protective suit?”  
Jack shared another concern look with Tony. “No, sir, we don’t.”  
Cassar sighed. Then, he tried to find the courage to say the last thing he would’ve wanted to.  
“Agent Bauer, as you have surely understood, without a protective suit, over 300 CPM, there could be permanent damages to biological tissues and, getting closer to the rods, the Geiger counter could raise over 900 CPM, which would cause severe radiation poisoning leading to death in a few hours or days.”  
“I understand, sir, but we don’t have any other choice if we wanna stop this bomb in time. I’ll do it.”  
“I’m sorry, Agent Bauer. I wish we had enough time to get there.”  
“I know, thank you. I’ll call back as soon as I find the bomb so you could help me disarm it.”  
“Ok, thanks.”  
“Jack”, Renee took over the phone, after having heard everything. In a hopeless and emotional way, she added: ”Maybe they could still be there in time, maybe Egorov gave us a wrong deadline on purpose…”  
“We can’t risk it, Renee…I’m sorry”, Jack said with commotion, starting to realize only in that moment what was going to happen.  
Renee felt like chocking while tears started streaming down her face.  
“We’ll talk later – continued Jack – I’ve gotta go now.”  
Jack put down the phone, regained his composure, and immediately turned to Tony:  
“Go back to the entrance and send them here as soon as they arrive, ok?”  
Without waiting for an answer, Jack had already turned around, ready to go up another floor.  
“Jack, wait”, Tony made him stop.  
“What?”  
“Let me do it.”  
Jack froze. “No.”  
“You have a daughter and a granddaughter who love you, you have Renee…you have a life. I don’t have anything left. If it wasn’t for you, I would have probably died anyway in a few days. You know it’s the right thing to do.”  
Jack couldn’t help but being clearly conflicted about it. Hearing about his daughter was his weak point and Tony knew it too well.  
“Tony, I don’t–  
“I have no secret agenda this time, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”  
“Oh, come on, it’s not that!”, Jack felt a little resented that Tony still thought that he couldn’t trust him.  
“Ok, good – Tony felt somehow relieved – I can do this, I promise.”  
“I know you can. But I can’t ask you this.”  
“You’re not asking, I’m telling. Come on, we’re running out of time, give me the phone.”  
Jack waited a few more seconds trying to think if this was really the right thing to do. Tony did some terrible things the previous year and this could have been his chance of redeeming them, but, still, a terrible death by radiation poisoning was something he wouldn’t want for anybody. Then, his mind flew back to Kim and how she had already almost lost him last year and everything she went through to give him a chance to survive the prion. He couldn’t have done this to her another time. In almost an unconscious way, he gave in and passed his phone to Tony.  
“Ok. Now get the hell outta here”, Tony said before heading back to the stairs.  
“Thank you”, Jack whispered while Tony was already too far away to hear it.


	16. The aftermath

Tony ran up the stairs, following the numbers on the Geiger counter. They were raising so fast now, that he had no time to realize what they were actually representing. Picking up the phone, he composed the last dialed number:  
“Renee, it’s Tony, I’m almost at the bomb.”  
“Tony? What happened to Jack?”, she replied with a worried tone.  
“He’s fine. I’ll do this. Can you put Cassar back on?”  
Renee almost felt ashamed of how relieved she felt hearing those words.  
“Sure…Hold on – she said, still in disbelief, while connecting the direct line with the NEST team – Ok, you can talk.”  
Tony pushed a metal door leading to the roof and heard the Geiger counter spiking up in an almost continuous noise.  
“Mr. Cassar, I’m Tony Almeida, I must be very close to the bomb, the numbers on the counter are stuck, I think it can’t help me anymore. What am I looking for?”  
“Mr. Almeida, you have to look for a small case, about the size of a laptop, with four metal bars in it”, explained Cassar still looking at the picture of the other rods.  
“A’ight.”  
Tony put the useless counter on the ground and started using his other phone as a light to search the place. Suddenly a small led caught his attention. Getting closer, he found the case attached through some wires to a bottle filled with some substance and a pulse watch. By instinct, he covered his face with his left elbow.  
“Ok, I got it. It has a pulse watch as a timer, we have less than two minutes left.”  
“Ok, send me a video of it.”  
“A’ight.”  
Tony placed the phone with the light on the ground, near the case, and used the other to share the video.  
“I can see now. You just have to cut first the green wire and then the red one and it should stop”, explained Cassar.  
“Ok.”  
Tony put the speaker on and placed the phone down. Then, he extracted a knife from his pocket to do as Cassar told.  
“Ok, it’s done. The clock stopped. What do I do now?”  
“Our team will be there shortly to prevent further leaks of radiation, just get away from there as fast as you can.”  
“Yeah.”  
Tony started running back to the metal door. Once closed behind his back, he coughed repeatedly and then began running again towards the ground floor.  
Out of the building, the police had already set up a perimeter to prevent not authorized people of getting close to it. As soon as Tony exited the main door, Jack made a few steps in his direction.  
Immediately Tony stopped him.  
“Stay away from me, Jack!”, he yelled. Then, in a lower tone, he added what everyone was waiting to hear: ”Bomb is secured.”  
Jack sighed in relief.  
“Great job, Tony. You saved a lot of lives tonight.”  
A few moments after, the NEST truck arrived and people in hazmat suits ran towards the entrance of the building. One of the men, stopped close to Tony.  
“Mr. Almeida? I’m Robert Cassar, thank you for what you’ve done. Now you have to go with my men down there to wash away any trace of radiation from your skin and clothes.”  
Tony nodded and followed one of the men towards their truck.

After a while, the NEST team had removed the rods, putting them back in a lead shield to transport them away. Tony was now sitting in the back of an ambulance with new clothes on, lacing his shoes up.  
“Mr. Almeida, we need to take you to the hospital to run more tests and have a real evaluation of your radiation poisoning”, said a paramedic.  
“No, I have to finish something in the field first. How much do you think I have left?”  
“It’s hard to tell, with the level of radiations you experienced, it could be a matter of a few days or a few weeks…I’m sorry.”  
“Ok…and when will the symptoms start?”  
“Again, it depends on many factors. Usually, they could start within an hour from the exposure or a day and that’s a reason more to come with us now.”  
“When the symptoms start, will I be contagious?”, Tony asked, ignoring the last part of the sentence.  
“No, radiation poisoning is not contagious.”  
“A’ight, so I won’t be a danger if stay out a little longer”, he concluded, getting up.  
“No, but I still recommend you getting hospitalized soon, since initial symptoms like nausea and vomiting could evolve rapidly in something more serious like internal bleeding and respiratory problems.”  
“When I get sick, I promise I will come to the hospital. Now I have to go.”  
The paramedic sighed, not being able to convince him.  
“Mr. Almeida, wait! – he stopped him – At least I can give you these potassium iodide pills to reduce the absorption of radiation and these anti-nausea medications. They won’t do miracles, but it’s still something. You can take one every three/four hours.”  
“A’ight, thanks – Tony said, taking the pills container.  
In that moment, Jack approached the ambulance and came to talk to Tony.  
“Hey –he said, trying to hide his apprehension – How bad is it?”  
“They can’t tell yet”, he cut off abruptly. Then, moving a few steps away from the ambulance, he continued:” Listen, Jack, we need to go and finish that thing now, before it’s too late.”  
Jack sighed.  
“Tony, what did the doctor say? Don’t you think it would be better for you if you–  
“No, Jack – Tony interrupted him, getting more upset – I’ve honored my part of the deal, doing everything you asked and more. Now it’s time that you honor yours.”  
Jack paused for a moment. When he offered that deal in the morning, he just needed Tony to collaborate with them and it wasn’t really his plan to respect it till the end, but now things had changed and he would’ve felt like crap letting him down.  
“Ok, wait me in that car, I have to make a couple phone calls”, Jack eventually replied, giving Tony the car keys.  
“A’ight.”  
Tony took the keys and went to sit in the passenger’s seat of the SUV. Once inside, he placed the keys in the ignition and then leant back to the sit, taking a deep breath. The moment he had been waiting for all these years was getting closer, but the weight of everything happened during that day and what still had to come for him was inevitably dragging him down in a spiral of distressing thoughts.  
A few minutes later, Jack reached the car and got in.  
“Ok, I managed to get information and thermo sat coverage on the location Wilson is spending his house arrest. I’ve got also his debrief file and everything the FBI has on his conspiracy group on my PDA”, Jack explained, passing the PDA to Tony.  
“A’ight, good”, Tony took the PDA and started looking on the files on it.  
Jack went to start the engine, but stopped before turning the key as a thought came to his mind.  
“Tony”  
Tony lifted his head from the screen and turned back to him.  
“Yeah.”  
“I didn’t even ask you how you’re feeling – Jack asked in a soft voice, letting out some sadness – Are you in pain now?”  
Tony laid his head back down on the PDA but without really looking at it.  
“I’m fine for now. I just want this to be over.”  
“Yeah – Jack nodded – You know, maybe there is still something they could do, you said it yourself, they don’t know how bad it is yet. Last year I was in a similar situation, but then this experimental treatment came out and–  
“Jack, stop it, ok? – Tony cut him off, turning back to him – When I was on the roof, the Geiger counter froze on 999 CPM just because it didn’t have enough digits to grow further. So, spare me this optimistic crap: when the symptoms kick in, it’s over.”  
Jack felt like adding something else, but he knew he was right.  
“I’m so sorry, Tony”, was all he was able to say.  
“Yeah, sure – Tony replied in a sarcastic way – Until this morning you probably would’ve killed me yourself if you had the chance, so don’t act like you care.”  
“Well, things are a little bit different now, don’t you think? Until this morning I thought that the person I’ve known and cared about for years, the person who devoted his entire life to protect people and that I considered my friend, was gone forever, replaced by a ruthless murderer who was willing to put innocent lives at stake to have his revenge. But, today, I’ve seen that person coming back and I’m sorry to lose him again.”  
Feeling the emotion in Jack’s voice, Tony avoided his look again.  
“That person died many years ago, when Michelle died”, he stated coldly.  
“That’s not true”, insisted Jack, getting more emotional. Tony, on the other side, started feeling uncomfortable that his detached approach was beginning to crumble.  
Jack paused for a moment further, in order to find the strength to open up and tell the rest of what he wanted to say: “You know, among all the things that I regret, there are two that have been haunting me for all these years and that I’ll never be able to forgive myself. The first is having trusted Nina and not having been able to stop her before she killed Teri. The second is having asked you, Michelle and Chloe to help me to fake my death to avoid being capturing by the Chinese. I can’t stop thinking that, if had turned myself in from the beginning – Jack’s voice began to crack – maybe none of this would’ve happened, maybe Michelle would’ve still been alive and you both would’ve had the lives you deserved.”  
Hearing all of this, it was getting harder for Tony to hold back his emotions.  
“Please don’t do this, Jack – he whispered fighting back his tears – don’t put this on you. You’ve been a victim in all of this, just like me. The way the government has used you and sold you out to cover their ass when they no longer needed you was simply outrageous. Helping you to escape was the only right thing to do at the time and I don’t regret doing it. Too bad it was eventually useless, since they captured you anyway a few years later…God, I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through during those two years in China.”  
Tony stopped to look back at Jack, whose mental scars for the period spent in the Chinese prison have never completely healed.  
“Anyway – he resumed – what I was trying to say, is that it’s not your fault for what happened after we helped you escape. It was Wilson who ordered the hit on me and Michelle and it was Henderson who actually did it. It’s their fault if our lives have been destroyed and, since you’ve already taken out Henderson, Wilson is the last person who still has to pay for this. So, stop feeling responsible for what happened to Teri or what happened to Michelle. I don’t blame you for that and you shouldn’t blame yourself neither.”  
Jack felt overwhelm by emotions. The remorse that has been eating him alive for years was still far from being finally eradicated, but knowing that Tony didn’t blame him for what happened to them was indeed a kind of relief.  
“Thanks Tony”, he said under his breath.  
Then, he dried out his tears with his hand and regain his fully focused face.  
“Now let’s go get that son of a bitch”, Jack stated before turning the engine on.  
“Yeah”, replied Tony finally satisfied.


	17. Worried

The night was getting darker and, even if the threat had been finally secured, the dawn seemed still too far away. After having parked the car in proximity of Wilson’s house, Jack was showing something on his PDA. Next to him, Tony appeared now paler and sweatier and a growing sense of nausea and stomachache were giving him a hard time to follow Jack’s directions.  
“I think this is the best way for you to break in. There are three persons on the ground floor, here, here and here – Jack tapped on the screen, showing three light points in the thermo scanner view of the building – There is another point here, upstairs, completely still. I think it must be him, probably asleep or watching tv.”  
In that moment, Jack noticed the painful expression on Tony’s face.  
“Are you ok?”, he asked putting down the PDA.  
Tony exhaled, finding it hard to talk.  
“I need some fresh air”, he eventually stated, leaving the car.  
Jack sighed, staring at the closing door with a concern look. After a moment, he put the PDA away and decided to leave the car too. Once outside, he noticed Tony vomiting in some bushes a few steps away from the SUV. Whatever it was going to happen, it was started and it could only get worse from now on.  
Jack reached the back of the car and opened the trunk, looking at the equipment store in there.  
A couple of minutes after, Tony joined him too. He was still very pale and sweaty, but the expression on his face seemed better. Jack knew that he would’ve never told him how he was really feeling, so he just asked what he believed it was mandatory to know at that point.  
“Are you sure you can still do this?”  
“Yeah, absolutely”, Tony replied with confidence.  
“Ok”, Jack nodded with a little less sureness.  
Then, he took out a bulletproof vest from the trunk and passed it to Tony.  
Tony couldn’t help but chuckle a little, seeing the irony of wearing it while life was already slipping away from him.  
“What?”, Jack asked, noting his expression.  
“Nothing.”  
While Tony was securing his jacket, Jack put out a gun with a silencer and its removable magazine and passed them to Tony too. Tony loaded the weapon and put it away. Then Jack took another bulletproof vest.  
“What the hell are you doing?”, Tony asked with a confused glare.  
Jack put on the vest and picked up another gun for himself.  
“I’m coming with you”, he nonchalantly replied.  
Tony rolled his eyes.  
“I told you I can still do this.”  
“Yeah, tell me again when you end up throwing up in the middle of a firefight”, Jack added with a smirk.  
“Oh, come on, Jack! – Tony was getting pissed off – You know what I’m gonna do once in there, if you’re coming with me, you’ll be an accomplice!”  
Jack chuckled softly.  
“I’ve vouched for you with the FBI, I’ve accessed classified intel on Wilson, I’ve taken you here and given you weapons and satellite coverage, knowing perfectly that you’ll commit a murder…I am already an accomplice in this, Tony, don’t you see it?”  
“It’s not the same thing – Tony insisted, in a calmer way – Until now, everything you’ve done could be justified telling that I’ve done it myself or I’ve forced you to do it. But if you enter that house and we get caught, you’ll go to prison for the rest of your life.”  
“Then we’ll make sure we won’t get caught.”  
Saying so, Jack pulled out from the trunk also gloves and ski masks. “We’re staging a robbery.”  
Tony remained speechless. On one side, he knew Jack’s help would be really useful, especially in his current conditions, on the other, getting someone else involved, could have complicated everything, since Jack had still something to lose, unlike him.  
“Come on, let’s go”, Jack said before wearing the mask and closing the trunk.  
Tony decided there was no time for second thoughts and, after all, Jack could take care of himself. He had always managed to do it, one way or another.  
Wearing his mask and gloves, he followed him towards the house.

Breaking into Wilson’s mansion wouldn’t be the hard part. Since his capture by the FBI the previous year, the criminal empire he had led for more than a decade, had quickly turned its back at him and abandoned him like the last of the drug dealers. If, in the golden age of his activity, he could count on dozens of bodyguards and henchmen ready to serve him 24/7, now he could barely protect himself through two guards, the only ones still loyal to him. That was the price of having broken down during the FBI interrogation, jeopardizing part of his secret criminal organization. Wilson had always sworn to them that he had revealed only meaningless details, but their verdict had been inflexible: he was a traitor and, if they didn’t decide to kill him, was just because he wasn’t even worthy of a powerful exit in their eyes. Now that his past glory had passed and the FBI couldn’t incriminate him for more than minor crimes, he spent his days like a regular old man, watching legal dramas on tv and playing golf.  
Jack and Tony climbed up the gate in the backyard of the house, after having smashed the security camera on top of it. They had masks but caution was never enough. Then, they entered the place through one of the windows on the ground floor and waited for Wilson’s guards to come checking what caused the suspicious noises. Following their positions on the PDA, ambushing them and knocking them out was an easy game. Jack had been clear on this: they wouldn’t have killed anybody other than Wilson, so they had to be extra careful that nobody could recognize them later. Tying them up around some furniture and gagging them with a towel, would be enough for now to keep them quiet and out of their way.  
There was still a bright spot on the screen on their floor. Coming closer to it, they found out a maid who was trying to reach the phone to call 911.  
“DROP THE PHONE NOW!”, Jack screamed at her, raising his gun just to let her see he was serious about it.  
The woman immediately followed the order, dropping the handset with terror and yelling not to kill her. Then, Jack came closer to her and tied and gagged her too.  
“Nobody is gonna hurt you, we just need you to stay still and quiet, ok?”, he tried to calm her while she was still crying.  
“He’s moving!”, Tony said looking the last dot coming downstairs, probably awaken by the yells.  
“Tony, remember, we need to interrogate him first, do NOT shoot to kill him, am I clear?”, Jack whispered in a menacing tone, stopping Tony by his shoulder.  
“Yeah – Tony replied in an annoyed way – I give you ten minutes for that.”  
Jack rolled his eyes.  
A couple of shots ran through the hallway in their direction. Wilson may have lost his past power, but he certainly hadn’t become naïve enough to check his ground floor for robbers without a gun.  
Taking cover behind a wall, Jack fired back at his hand to disarm him. Right after, both him and Tony ran towards him to block him. While on the ground, Tony didn’t lose the chance to give him three well-placed kicks in the belly. Finally, they dragged him to the kitchen and tied him on a chair with his hands behind his back.  
“Who the hell are you? – Wilson asked while wincing for the pain – I have money in a safe, I will give it to you if you let me go.”  
“We don’t want your money, Mr. Wilson”, Tony stated carelessly.  
Wilson looked at the masked man who was talking to him with confusion.  
“Then, what do you want?”, he continued.  
“We want you. Dead.”  
Wilson felt a shiver down his spine. His fear became even stronger when, a moment after, Tony took off his mask to reveal his face to him.  
“Remember me?”  
“Almeida…– Wilson said like he had just seen ghost – I thought you were in prison.”  
“I could say the same about you, don’t you think?”  
“Well, technically I am”, he responded, showing his left foot with the ankle bracelet on.  
“An ankle bracelet in a three-floor mansion with private golf court is not a prison”, Tony said, while all the disgust and repulsion he felt for that man were coming to the surface every moment more.  
“It is if you only committed a minor financial crime and not terrorism and murder like you.”  
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!”  
Tony began punching him in the face furiously, letting all his rage have the better hand on him.  
Seeing the situation out of control, Jack, who in the meantime had removed his mask too, stepped in to avoid that he might kill him before he could question him.  
“TONY STOP! – he shouted, pushing him away from Wilson – STOP!”  
Tony made a few steps across the room to calm down and then went back to Wilson, pointing his finger at him through the barrier that Jack was creating with his body to prevent him to punch him again.  
“I don’t care who you had to corrupt to let all of your other charges drop or the evidence disappeared, but I swear to God that this time you’re gonna pay for murdering my wife and son, as well as hundreds of other innocent people! Justice will be made, no doubt about it!”, Tony screamed at him to let him know that it wasn’t over.  
Pushed back once again by Jack, he moved to the sink and started coughing repeatedly, gasping for air. The spiking up of pressure due to his uncontrollable rage hadn’t helped out his already damaged body.  
Tony quickly opened a cabinet, looking for a glass. Inside, among cups, cereal boxes and a huge number of medicines, he found what he was searching for. After having taken a pill from the container given him by the paramedic before, he filled the glass with tap water and had a sip.  
“You don’t look too good, Almeida – Wilson taunted him while spitting out some blood – You should have that cough checked.“  
Immediate was Jack’s response who punched him hard once again.  
“Shut the fuck up and start worrying about yourself, because, trust me, you MUST be worried.”, Jack threatened him.  
Wilson’s smirk slowly disappeared from his face. Maybe he should be worried.


	18. Breaking point

A while later they were still at a dead end. Jack knew from Wilson’s file that he had no family that he could use against him and that he suffered from a heart condition since his heart had stopped for a few minutes the previous year, after Renee’s interrogation. Therefore, he needed to be careful about torturing him or they may have lost him before getting what they wanted from him. On the other side, Tony looked every minute more impatient to have his revenge accomplished.  
“As I told you before – Jack said while holding a large knife previously heated on the burner – we want the names of your associates in the conspiracy that led to the terrorist attacks of last year. If you tell us, I can spare you a series of pointless excruciating pains.”  
“As I told the FBI last year, I have no idea what names or conspiracy you’re talking about”, Wilson replied smugly.  
“All right.”  
Jack placed the hot blade on his chest, right next to another burning mark he had left him before.  
Wilson screamed in pain as sweat was dropping throughout his body.  
“The thing that you have to keep in mind is that we’re not at the FBI here – Jack continued while Wilson was still recovering from the burning – There are no rules here and no one is going to save you like the last time if things turned out badly. We’ve got all night to have the answers we need, so drop your façade of bullshits and start thinking of a way to collaborate with us, because everybody breaks sooner or later, it depends just on how much they wanna suffer.”  
“I’m not stupid – Wilson resumed talking, still with a labored breathing – Almeida said that you wanted me dead and you both removed your masks, so I know that you’re gonna kill me eventually, whether I tell you what you want or not.”  
“If you’re really not stupid, you understand that there is no point in denying in front of us, after that Tony has been working for you for over a year, knowing exactly what you were involved in. It’s over, Wilson, the names of the others who had planned everything with you are the only thing that could grant you a quick and painless exit.”  
Wilson paused for moment, reconsidering his options.  
“I don’t know any of their names – he admitted – it was rule number one to keep maximum secrecy to prevent that, in situations like this, someone could break and expose the group.”  
Jack shook his head.  
“I don’t believe you – he whispered with confidence – It’s absolute nonsense that someone would get involved in such dangerous and delicate matters without knowing anything of the people who would work with him. In order to build trust, you need some basic information or someone you trust who can vouch for the other person, that’s why you MUST know at least some of them.”  
“I don’t care what you believe.”  
Jack felt anger taking control on him and punched Wilson again, breaking his nose.  
Wilson winced in pain, experiencing growing difficult to breath as blood covered his face.  
“Jack, as much as I may enjoy this, we’re wasting our time here – complained Tony – He won’t tell us anything useful, let’s get it over with!”  
“Not yet”, insisted Jack, sure that he could still find a way to make him talk.  
Tony snorted, visibly upset. He was starting to regret having allowed Jack to follow him. Unlike him, Tony didn’t give a damn about the other conspirators, he just wanted Wilson’s death and he was getting worried that police could burst in any minute and stop them or that his time ran out before he could see the end of it.  
“I’ve noted a laptop in the study. Maybe we should take a look at it and see if you remember something that would connect you with the people you used to work with”, Jack told to Wilson with a mocking tone. Then, he glanced at Tony to go and take it. Maybe a little walk would have helped him to calm down.  
“A’ight, I get it”, Tony grumbled before exiting the room.  
Left alone with Wilson, Jack tried a different approach.  
“You know, last year when we busted you at the lab and arrested you, you had dozens of henchmen to protect you and that wasn’t even your headquarters. Today, we broke in here almost without any resistance. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that you’ve been disowned by the people you’re still trying to defend.”  
Jack paused to find confirmation in Wilson’s look.  
“Those people, whom you’ve helped to gain everything they have during these years, have now turned against you and abandoned you like an old shoe. Do you really think it’s worth going through all this sufferance for someone who thinks nothing of you anymore? I’ve been in similar situations before and I can guarantee you that it’s not. Maybe last year, when you were at the FBI, you still thought that, denying everything, you could get out easily and save yourself, but now, you’ve got nothing left to lose, so let those bastards pay as much as you.”  
Wilson stood in silence, trying to think despite the pain.  
In that moment, Tony came back to the kitchen and placed the laptop on the table, close to where Jack was standing.  
“Thanks”, Jack whispered.  
Suddenly, a drop of blood fell on the laptop surface. Immediately, he raised his eyes at Tony with a worried look. By instinct, Tony touched his nose and glanced at his bloody hand, before looking back at Jack with the same concern. Then, he reached out to take some kitchen paper and use it to stop the bleeding.  
“I’ll come back in a minute – he whispered to Jack – Make him talk now or we move on to the next phase.”  
Jack nodded and Tony left the room again.  
“What the hell is wrong with him?”, Wilson asked finding odd Tony’s behavior.  
“None of your business”, Jack cut him off.  
Opening the laptop, he then found out that, as imagined, it was password protected.  
“How do I unlock it?”, he asked to Wilson.  
“You won’t find anything in it.”  
“Let me decide that.”  
Wilson remained quiet.  
“Look, you can either tell me the password or I can make you scream again and then call my friend and hack in it anyway. If really there’s nothing on it, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to make the right call.”  
“Password is 162589”, Wilson gave in.  
Jack unlocked the pc and started looking into it. Nothing really seemed to matter there. Sighing, he raised his eyes and his attention was caught by the cabinet Tony opened before. Jack made a few steps and came closer to it. It was filled with any kind of medicines, almost a whole personal pharmacy. Jack thought back at Wilson’s file, but nothing could justify such a drug arsenal, neither his heart condition. Unless he was hypochondriac. Maybe it wasn’t the pain itself that could make him break, but the fear of what may cause it, especially if it was some terrible or unknown disease. Looking down at the glass Tony had used before, he came up with an idea.  
“You wanted to know what is happening to Tony, I’ll tell you – Jack began to explain – A few hours ago, we managed to stop a biological attack involving a more aggressive variant of the ebola virus that has shorter incubation and leads to death in 95% of cases in a few hours. Symptoms include fever, vomit, breathing difficulty, until the body starts covering in blisters and ulcers, which quickly become infected causing terrible pains. Then, massive internal bleeding begins and every organ start to fail and fill up in blood, including lungs, until the victim chokes to death in their own blood.”  
Jack looked at Wilson to check if any of this had any effect on him. Yeah, he was absolutely disgusted. “The only good thing about this virus – continued Jack – is that it doesn’t spread through air, but only through body fluids, so it’s a little easier to contain. Anyway, unfortunately, Tony has been exposed, that’s why you have seen him getting sick before.”  
“And you’re telling me because you want me to feel sorry for this? Yeah, I’m absolutely sorry”, Wilson mocked.  
“No – Jack replied with a similar taunting attitude – I’m telling you this because I wanna be sure that you know what to expect when you’ll end up taking it.”  
Wilson gazed at him both worried and confused. Jack, while still wearing gloves, took the glass Tony used before and placed it on the table right in front of him.  
“You’ve got three seconds to tell me everything you know about your old group or I’m gonna make you drink from that glass and you’ll die an excruciating death without even having to touch you.”  
Wilson looked at him completely frightened.  
”You’re insane”, he barely managed to say.  
“ONE!”, Jack pushed his head back and closed his nose with one hand while taking the glass with the other. Wilson screamed again both for fear and pain for his damaged nose.  
“TWO!”, Jack moved the glass closer to his lips, keeping Wilson’s head steady.  
“I TOLD YOU I DON’T KNOW ANY OF THE NAMES, I SWEAR!”, Wilson yelled in desperation, trying to move his blocked head.  
“THREE!”, Jack moved the glass even closer, almost touching Wilson’s lips.  
“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! OK, WAIT, I’LL TELL YOU ALL I KNOW!”, Wilson broke, completely terrified.  
Jack released his head and put the glass back on the table.  
“Tell me NOW.”  
“I don’t know the names, BUT there is a way to expose and locate a selected member through an emergency procedure. It was established for security reasons, in order to be able to identify and expel problematic participants. Only the three original members knew about this and can launch it and, since the other two are dead now, I am the only one who can still do it.”  
“How.”  
“On the computer, search for the SVI Music Player. It’s a fake interface for the program that can start a scam virtual meeting that sends a virus to a selected member in the encoded list of participants and breaches the encryption layer, exposing their IP. Once you have the IP, it won’t be difficult to locate the person behind it. In order to access it, I have to insert my fingerprint. You can find a fingerprint reader on my desk in the study. After that, you’ll be able to start the fake call and when they answer, they’ll be screwed.”  
Jack found the software suggested by Wilson and, clicking on it, it was clear that it wasn’t a music player and that a fingerprint was requested to access. Jack glanced at the door to see if Tony was coming back, but he was still away.  
“If this is a set-up, I swear–  
“It’s not”, Wilson assured, still overwhelmed by fear.  
“Ok.”  
Jack picked up the laptop and moved it away from table, so that Wilson couldn’t be able to reach it or damage it and then headed for the door.


	19. Last stop

Arrived at the study, Jack began searching every drawer of the desk, looking for the fingerprint reader.  
Tony eventually appeared close to the study door, and seeing Jack messing up the desk, he stepped in there.  
“What are you doing, Jack?”  
“Wilson broke and gave me a way to expose his former partners. I just need to find a fingerprint reader to connect to his laptop to grant him access to launch the procedure.”  
“You mean like this?”, Tony handled Jack a little square tool with a USB cable attached that he had just found near a pen holder.  
Jack took the reader, feeling stupid for not having looked on the surface of the desk first.  
“Yeah. Thanks.”  
“No problem.”  
“How are you holding up?”, Jack asked before leaving the room.  
Tony sighed.  
“It’s getting worse”, saying so, he uncovered his arm, showing that it was now covered in blisters.  
Jack sighed too.  
In that moment, a beat coming from the kitchen was heard.  
“Son of a bitch!”, Jack exclaimed with anger, before running to the other room, followed by Tony.

In the kitchen, Wilson laid on the floor by his side, still tied up to the chair. Behind him, an open drawer. While on the floor, he managed to reach a pill with his mouth and swallowed it.  
Immediately, Jack ran to him and tried to force him to spit it, but it was too late. Wilson was already gasping for air.  
“He’s going into cardiac arrest, help me untie him!”, Jack screamed to Tony, who hesitated a moment before coming closer to Wilson and freeing his hands.  
Once Wilson’s back was on the floor, Jack began the cardiac massage while Tony stepped back.  
“Come on!”, Jack repeatedly compressed Wilson’s chest, trying to make his heart start again.  
After a few useless attempts, he checked the heartbeat in the neck.  
“Damn it! – he shouted, pounding his fist on the floor in frustration – He’s dead.”  
Hearing those words, Tony stared blankly at Wilson’s dead body, whose mouth was now drooling a white substance.  
Jack stood up and took the laptop again, connecting the fingerprint reader. Then, he came back to Wilson and cut his right index with the knife he had previously used to torture him. Putting the finger on the reader, the software unlocked and showed the next screen with a list of encoded names. Jack selected one and clicked to start the connection. Unfortunately, his joy lasted only a few moments, when he realized that another code was needed to proceed.  
“Damn it! There’s another protection to pass.”  
Jack paused for a moment thinking about what to do next. He then picked up his phone and dialed a number.

In a dark bedroom, a phone started to ring. A hand, blindly, reached for it and, after a few attempts, managed to find it and pick it up.  
“Hello”, a female voice answered.  
“Chloe, it’s Jack. Did I wake you?”  
Chloe O’Brian sat on the bed and turned on the light, before glancing at the alarm clock on her night table. It showed 5:32.  
“Well, it’s 5 in the morning, Jack...what is going on?”, Chloe replied with a worried tone while still adapting her eyes to the light.  
“I’m sorry if I waked you, but I need your help. I need to break into a computer that could help us expose the people behind last year’s attacks. There was a first authentication through fingerprints that I’ve passed but now I have to insert also a code and I don’t know who else I could ask since I can’t go to the FBI with this right now. Do you think you can do it?”  
“I guess, but I need to see what kind of protection you’re asking me to breach – Chloe got up from bed and headed to her computer – Could you grant me remote access?”  
Jack glanced at Wilson’s dead body on the floor.  
“I can’t stay here any longer. I was thinking of maybe coming over and let you access the computer directly.”  
“Oh…do you think it’s safe? You know, Prescott’s here”, Chloe got worried again: letting Jack come to her house with an important proof while her son was there was not an ideal situation.  
Despite being pretty sure that nobody else knew about that at the moment, Jack was also aware that nothing was 100% safe in these cases, so he couldn’t risk putting Chloe’s family in danger.  
“All right, let’s meet at the Starbucks between 19th and Ives in half an hour.”  
“Ok, see you there.”  
“Thank you, Chloe.”  
Jack hanged up and then put both the computer and Wilson’s finger in his bag.  
“Tony, we need to go”, he said while wearing his mask again.  
Tony was still frozen in front of Wilson’s corpse, hardly realizing that it was finally over.  
“Tony”, Jack insisted, noting that he wasn’t moving.  
Tony snapped back to reality and turned to Jack.  
“Yeah.”  
Then, he put his mask back on too and followed Jack.

Once outside, they quickly reached their car and got in. After removing his mask, Jack started driving, while Tony took off his mask too.  
“I’ll drop you off at the hospital and then I’m gonna go and meet up with Chloe, ok?”  
Tony wasn’t paying attention to Jack’s words, still overthinking about what had just happened.  
“You know, I think you were right, Jack.”  
Jack looked at him with confusion.  
“About what?”  
“Wilson’s death.”  
Jack sighed.  
Tony resumed talking: “Early today, you told me about how you felt after killing Nina, how this sense of emptiness came over you and prevent you to be finally satisfied that justice had been made. Well, I didn’t think that it would have been the same for me, since revenging Michelle’s death has been the only thing that has kept me alive in these last years, but the truth is…when I saw his body on the floor, all the anger and hate for the man who took a part of me away and all the blood and sweat that costed me to finally get to him, vanished in a second and I couldn’t feel nothing at all. I’ve waited so much for that moment, and now it’s just passed and left me with nothing.”  
“I know, Tony. And that’s because, no matter how much we can convince ourselves that revenge will somehow reestablish a balance and repair the wrong that has been done, nothing will ever fill the void of the losses we had. The truth is, there is no possible justice for something so unfair, neither the deaths of the ones who caused it – Jack paused, thinking back at painful memories from his past – Anyway, at least that son of a bitch didn’t walk free and, with Chloe’s help, I’m confident that we’ll be able to dismantle his group once for all and stop them from making others go through the same pain that we did.”  
“Yeah – Tony stopped for a moment, with another thing in mind – Can I ask you one last favor, Jack?”  
“Sure, anything.”  
“Before we go to the hospital, I’d like to go to a place.”  
Jack exhaled deeply. “Tony, you’ve seen how fast you’re getting worse–  
“Just 5 minutes. It won’t change much.”  
Jack sighed again. “All right. Where do you wanna go?”

A while later, the black SUV stopped on a dusty soil. The sky was getting brighter and soon the light of dawn would have struck the monumental entrance and the hundreds of gravestones behind it. Jack parked the car and turn off the engine.  
Tony glanced at the gate and wondered if he would have been up to this moment. Since Michelle had died, more than seven years ago, he’d never had the chance to go visit her. At first, when she was still buried back in LA next to his own grave, he had been forced to stay away from any possible connection to his previous life, in order to preserve his believed-dead state. Then, when the truth about him had come out, Michelle’s body had been moved to DC, closer to her family. It had been a matter of hours then, before Tony would have been sent to prison.  
“Have you ever come to visit her, Jack?“, Tony asked in a soft voice.  
“No, unfortunately, I’ve never had the chance. The Chinese first, then I’ve been on the run for many years and now…I didn’t even know she had been moved here.”  
“Yeah – Tony chuckled – she would have hated to be buried here, close to her dad.”  
Jack nodded, remembering the conflictual relationship she had with her father.  
“You know, Kim came to visit both of you several times, back in LA”, Jack added, thinking back at what her daughter told him. “She really cared about you and Michelle, you’ve been mentors for her, and your deaths hit her a lot.”  
Tony lowered his eyes and sighed.  
“I’m sorry for putting her in danger last year. I’m glad she’s ok.”  
Jack turned to him to see by his expression that he really meant it now. “Yeah, me too.”  
“She’s a tough girl, you must be proud of her.”  
“I am. Despite everything she’s been through, she’s always been so strong. I don’t know how she could do it.”  
“Well, she has your genes after all”, Tony said smiling.  
“Yeah”, Jack chuckled. Then, he looked back outside the window and became serious again. “You’re ready?”  
Tony nodded. It was time to face his demons. “Yeah.”

As they were both walking through the lines of gravestones, suddenly the familiar name appeared on one of them. Jack stopped a few steps away from it.  
“I give you some privacy”, he said to Tony.  
“Thanks.”  
Tony approached the headstone and got down close to it. Then, with his fingers, he reached the cold stone and slowly skimmed through the inscription on it, caressing that name so important to him. Michelle Dessler.  
“Hey, sweetheart – he whispered delicately as his eyes started to fill with tears – Sorry I couldn’t be here before. Believe me, I’ve wanted it so bad, but I just couldn’t. It’s been seven years but there hasn’t been a single day that I haven’t thought about you and that I haven’t missed you.”  
Tony paused for a moment, remembering the happy memories of her and of their life together. Despite how much he tried to hold on to them, he felt that they were slowly fading away, every day more. What was still vivid in his mind, like the first day, was instead the blast of the car bomb and those last excruciating moments with her, when he realized that everything was gone.  
“I just wanted to let you know that it’s done – he eventually continued, regaining strength in his voice – I’ve promised you that I would make that bastard paid for what he did to you…to us…and he’s dead now. It’s over. I wish there was another way and I didn’t have to do all the terrible things I’ve done…I know you would have hated me for that…I hope you’ll be able to forgive me one day.”  
Saying so, he felt the weight of his guilty conscience he had been carrying since her death crashing him and couldn’t help but crying. Somehow, letting all out, felt kind of a relief.  
“I love you so much. And I always will”, he said at last in a soft voice, after drying up his tears. Then, he got up again, gave a final caress to the headstone and walked back to Jack.  
“You Ok?”, Jack asked, squeezing his shoulder as an affection sign.  
“Yeah.”  
“You know, I think that, after everything you’ve done today, she would be proud of you again.”  
“I don’t know”, Tony replied in an emotionless tone.  
“Well, I am”, Jack stated smiling.  
Tony looked back at him and gave a hint of a smile too.  
“C’mon, let’s go”, Jack added eventually, giving him a pat on the back.  
Then, they both started walking towards the exit, while the sky was slowly turning orange.


	20. Epilogue

16 MONTHS LATER  
In a courtroom a judge was about to read her verdict.  
“Please stand”, she said to the defendant, a 50-something years old man.  
He stood up as well as his lawyer and the prosecutor.   
The judge began to speak.  
“Having regard the totality of this evidence in this matter, the charge of conspiracy to terroristic activity and count one of the indictment, the Court finds the defendant Philipp Oegly GUILTY.“  
In the audience, Jack turned to Renee and smiled.

Later on, Jack and Renee were having a coffee in a small diner.  
“You should be proud of yourself and the work you’ve done. They have been difficult trials, but the evidence you collected through your investigation following the names that we found out from Wilson, have made the difference. Managing to have eight of them plead guilty is a great result”, Jack said not hiding the esteem he felt for her.  
“Yeah, I mean, I am happy about it, but it could’ve been better”, she replied as a perfectionist as she was.  
Jack sighed.  
“I know what you’re thinking – he resumed talking – there’s still one of them at large, so until all of the conspirators have been identified and prosecuted you won’t be satisfied.”  
“You know me pretty well”, she chuckled softly. Then, she immediately became serious again:” I owe it to Larry and all the people that have lost their lives because of those sons of bitches.”  
Jack couldn’t help but feeling even more proud of her as he shared the same thoughts exactly.  
“For my experience, no one can hide forever. Proof will come out, just like we eventually manage to do with Wilson. We just need him to make one false step and then we’ll catch him. I promise you”, he reassured her.  
“I hope so – she agreed, but then her face darkened again – You know, I tried my best with Wilson, I still have nightmares of his interrogation, but I couldn’t break him. If it wasn’t for you, we’d still be here with empty hands.”  
Jack rolled his eyes.  
“I know you tried, and I too had already given up with him. It was Tony’s determination to make him pay for what he had done that forced me to change my mind and go all the way to make him confess – Jack stopped for a moment as his memory flew back at that night at Wilson’s mansion – Anyway, we won’t give up again, ok?”  
“Yeah – Renee nodded and then gave a brief glance at her watch – Speaking of which, I think I should be going now. I may have a new lead about it.”  
“What lead?”, Jack asked with confusion.  
“Yesterday a former Starkwood employee contacted me and requested a meeting to talk to me.”  
“To talk to you about what?”  
“He didn’t tell, but he said it was important and he wanted to speak to me alone. I’m gonna meet him at the mall downtown at 2, so it’s better if I go”, she said while standing up.  
Jack looked at her a little worried. Requiring a private meeting in a crowded place usually meant only one thing and it wasn’t the kind of thing he wanted her to face without, at least, a backup.  
“Do you want me to come with you? I have an appointment, but I can reschedule it.”  
“No, don’t worry. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”  
“You’re sure?”  
“Yeah, I can handle it”, she added a little annoyed by his lack of trust.  
Jack looked down and felt stupid. He was being overprotective again, the exact thing Renee hated.  
“Ok. But be extra careful, all right? We know what these people are capable of.”  
“I will”, she came closer to him and kissed him. “See you tonight”, she smiled.  
“Yeah”, he forced a smile too, still not comfortable with the whole situation.  
Then, he followed her with his eyes while she was leaving the place. The ominous feeling that had crossed his mind was still there, stronger than ever. He waited another moment, then he swore under his breath, put a few bucks on the table and left.

On a roof a sniper was preparing his equipment. His phone rang.  
“Hello.”  
“Are you in position?”, a voice on the other side said.  
“Yes, I’m almost ready.”  
“Good. I’m sending you the pictures.”  
The sniper moved the phone away from his ear and opened the incoming message.  
A picture of a white man, mid forty appeared. He slid left and another one showed up. Renee Walker.  
“Got it”, he said, moving back the phone close to his mouth.  
“Let me know when it’s done.”  
The man hanged up the phone and took another look at the photos. Then, he put the phone away and continued to prepare the rifle.

Renee arrived at the café in front of the mall and started looking for the man with the green baseball hat she was going to meet. She eventually spotted him, smoking a cigarette sitting at a table.  
“Mister Cobb?”  
“Agent Walker – he turned towards her and then looked around suspiciously – Are you alone?”  
“Yes. What is this all about?”, she sat down with him.  
“I know you conducted the investigation that took down the leaders of the Sentox conspiracy and dismantled Starkwood. Your name is everywhere these days. It was very brave to go against all these powerful people – he said with a hint of admiration – I think I may have something that could help you with that.”  
“I’m all ears”, Renee replied.

On the roof, the sniper was checking the background. From his view, Renee and Cobb’s table was just partially cover by a line of people waiting to get an ice cream at a stand.

“I’ve worked in Accounting at Starkwood for almost eight years and part of my job was to forge the books to hide, let’s just say, some sensitive information. When Starkwood was dismantled, however, I saved some of the original transaction records as a personal assurance. You never know with these people, if you understand.”  
“Yes, I understand. Why are coming out only now if you had these records for over a year?”  
“What I did at Starkwood was illegal, I know you could arrest me for that. But, frankly, now it doesn’t matter because I’m scared for me and my family. Your investigation has moved the waters a lot and the more it went on, the more they saw us as threats. Last week a former colleague of mine was found hanged in his own garage. I knew him pretty well, he would’ve never committed suicide. He wasn’t the first to go out like that and he won’t be the last. That’s why I need your help. I will give you everything I have if you can provide protection for me and my family.”  
“We can put you and your family in witness protection, Mr Cobb. If your information is valuable, I can also offer you immunity for your past at Starkwood, but I need to know more about what you have.”

The line of people was getting thinner, only two were left.

“You can check it with your own eyes – he said sliding a USB key on the table – Everything I have is in there. I hope that, following the money, you’ll be able to connect the remaining open points you may have and took those criminals down once for all. I’m also ready to testify in court, but, please, don’t let pass another day before granting me protection because I can’t sleep at night anymore.”  
“I promise you it will be the first thing I’ll do when I get back to the office. I’ll call you as soon as I have something”, she said, taking the USB key and put it in her pocket.  
“Thanks. I’ve got to go now”, he said standing up and taking another look around.

Arrived at the mall café after having followed Renee, Jack looked around trying to find her. Before he could do it, a reflection of the sun coming from the roof of the building across the street caught his attention.  
In that moment, the last person waiting in line, finished paying for his ice cream and moved away. With a clear view and both Cobb and Renee standing up now, the sniper pulled the trigger and shot twice.   
Immediately, panic spread at the café and everybody began to scream and run for a place to hide. Jack took out his gun and shot multiple times in the direction of the sniper, before he could pull the trigger again.  
“OUT OF THE WAY!”, he screamed while starting to run to Renee’s table, bumping into people running in the opposite direction.  
A security guard approached, alarmed by the gunshots.  
“I’M A FEDERAL AGENT, CALL 911, NOW!”, Jack ordered him, just before stopping where both Cobb and Renee were. The guard nodded and called for help.  
On the ground, Cobb’s body was laying on Renee with two holes in his back. Jack gently moved the body away and took a look at his wounds. He was bleeding copiously but he was still breathing.  
“I NEED HELP HERE!”, Jack yelled just before the security officer came closer to him. “Keep pushing”, he said to the guard that immediately began pressing on Cobb’s body to try to stop the bleeding.  
Then, Jack turned to Renee and his heart stopped seeing her light brown coat soaked in blood with two holes in it.  
“No…”, he cried in desperation, almost paralyzed by what he was seeing in front of him.  
Renee opened her eyes and looked around disoriented, trying to remember what had just happened.  
“Jack”, she said under her breath.  
“Help is on the way, you’ll be fine”, he reassured despite being in complete shock.  
Still confused, Renee raised her head just enough to see the blood stain on her belly.  
“No, Jack, I’m ok. It’s Cobb’s blood.”  
Jack glanced at her, baffled. Then, he opened the coat and saw two bullets planted in the Kevlar jacket underneath it.  
“I followed your ‘extra careful’ advice”, she smiled.  
Jack sighed in relief.   
“Thank God – he hugged her as his heart burst out with joy – I thought I was gonna lose you”, he kept holding her as tight as he could.  
“How is Cobb?”, Renee asked, suddenly remembering the moments before the shots.  
Jack turned to the security guard, who had stopped pressing the wound and was now shaking his head.  
“He didn’t make it.”  
Renee’s face saddened. “I promised I would protect him. If only he would have come earlier to us.”  
“I’m sorry”, Jack could feel that she was already blaming herself, even if there was nothing else she could have done in those split seconds before getting hit. In this, they were the same.  
Suddenly, she remembered another thing. She searched for something in her pocket and extract an USB key.  
“He gave me this. It’s a copy of the unforged Starkwood’s financial records. If we can find even a single wire transfer connecting their illegal activities to the last of their leaders, we’re gonna get him.”   
Jack looked at the USB key in her hand and thought back at the day of the Sentox attack when it all started, more than eight years ago. Since then, his life and the ones of some of his closest friends had been torn apart and America had never been the same again. Maybe it was finally come the time when everyone involved would face what they deserved. Maybe it was the danger the woman he loved had just escaped unscathed or maybe it was that little but still powerful key in her hand. But it felt damn good.


End file.
